Taming the Beast
by Dorchet
Summary: On the day of his Mother's death, Shinji Ikari makes a new friend by the name of Mari Makinami. After being separated for 10 years, Shinji gets the chance to reunite with Mari. Re-telling of Evangelion with some elements from Rebuild. Shinji/Mari Rated M for safety
1. Chapter 1 New Friends

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Evangelion. Though I do wish I owned a Mari figure.

* * *

Artificial Evolution Laboratory, Hakone, Japan

2004 – Contact Experiment Test Day

Four year old Shinji Ikari hid nervously behind his mother's legs as they entered into the lab's observation room. Turning around, Yui Ikari knelt down in front of her son and smiled softly. "You don't need to be scared Shinji, Mommy and Daddy are here," she said reassuringly.

Young Shinji nodded slightly and hugged his mother. He watched as she straightened up and greeted the other researchers there. Shinji looked around the room, peering under desks and behind chairs. As he got further and further from his mom, he spotted a large object covered by a white sheet. Approaching the object, Shinji paused to gaze up at it. Curiosity quickly took over the little boy, and Shinji reached down and picked up the edge of the sheet.

Yui and the other scientists were surprised by the scream they heard. Rushing over, they found young Shinji cowering away from a covered maintenance equipment. Yui went over to her son and checked him over. "What's wrong Shinji?" she asked.

"A...a...a...," was all Shinji could get out. Concerned about what could have scared her son so badly. Gazing over at the sheet, Yui went over and lifted the sheet. "BOO!"

Jerking back in surprise at the shout, Yui fell backwards and pulled the cover off of the equipment to reveal a small brown haired toddler with glasses. The smiling little girl jumped up, clutching a stuffed dinosaur to her chest. "Did I scare you? Did I scare you?" she asked excitedly.

Placing a hand over her heart to calm the rapid beating, Yui took a deep breath and smiled at the child. "Yes you did, but what are you doing under there?" Yui asked.

"Daddy told me I had to stay out of the way, so we decided to hide under here and scare people," the girl replied, smiling brightly.

At this statement, Shinji, who had been hiding behind his mother, poked his head out and asked quietly, "We?"

The girl's smile widened as she stepped closer to Shinji. "Me and Mr. Teeth, of course," she said, thrusting the stuffed dinosaur towards him. Shinji examined the stuffed toy in front of him. It was a Tyrannosaurus-Rex made of green felt. It's mouth was open slightly and filled with many white felt teeth. Intrigued by the toy, Shinji took a step towards the girl.

Seeing the curiosity on her son's face, Yui nudged Shinji and said, "Why don't you introduce yourself, sweetie."

Nodding to his mother, Shinji came out fully from behind her back and bowed to the little girl. "Hello, my name's Shinji Ikari. What's yours?"

"Hiya Shinji, I'm Mari Makinami, and this is Mr. Teeth," the girl replied.

Happy to see that her son had made a new friend, Yui Ikari rose and dusted herself off. "Well, I have some work to do, so why don't you three play together?" she asked the children with a smile.

"Okay," the kids replied in unison. With that, the new friends ran off to find somewhere out of the way to play. Looking away from her son, Yui wiped a tear away from her eye and embraced her husband. Leaning in close, Yui whispered in Gendo's ear. "Please take care of Shinji, dear."

Gendo nodded and embraced his wife tighter. Releasing their hold, Yui stepped away prepared to start the experiment. She just hoped that Shinji would one day understand what she was about to do.

* * *

Tokyo-3

10 Years Later

"Due to the current state of emergency, all public services are suspended. Residents should make their way to the nearest shelter and wait for instructions."

Hanging up the phone, Shinji Ikari retrieved the 100 yen coin from the change slot and pocketed it. "Well, at least we're not the only ones with an emergency," he said to the open air around him. Shrugging his shoulders, Shinji hiked his duffel bag further up, making sure it was secure. Double checking that a faded green dinosaur was still seated in the outer mesh pouch of the bag, Shinji made his way towards, what he hopefully thought was, the nearest shelter. Stopping at an empty intersection, Shinji scanned the area for any signs of life. His eyes widened as he saw a girl about his age with blue hair staring at him from across the street. Hearing movement to his right, Shinji turned his head towards the sound, only to see a flock of birds winging away. Returning his attention towards where the girl was, he was surprised to discover that she was no longer there.

"Huh, I guess I just imagined her," he said. Readjusting the bag once again, he pulled a photo out of his pocket and looked at it. The provocatively dressed women was leaning forward, showing off her impressive cleavage. She had also included an arrow pointing to her breasts with the instruction to "look here". Laughing, Shinji read the note on the photo one more time. "Misato Katsuragi, huh? She said she'd meet us at the station, but I guess the emergency held her up. Oh well, I guess we should just head to the shelter then. Sound good to you?"

Shinji received no audible reply to his inquiry, but it did not bother him. His companion was usually silent anyway. Just as he was opened his mouth to speak again, he heard a low whistling coming from above him. Looking up, Shinji saw what appeared to be a tank flying through the air. "I must be more tired than I thought," he chuckled as he closed his eyes and shook his head. Looking back up, he was surprised to see that the tank was still there, and it appeared to be larger than before. The laughter died on his lips as the tank seemed to grow even larger right before his eyes. It was then that the realization struck him like a ton of bricks. "Oh shit," was all he could say before he was forced to dive out of the way of the falling tank.

Hitting the ground with a roll, he clutched the duffel bag to his chest, making sure to keep the stuffed dinosaur away from the ground. Rising, Shinji sprinted away from the wreckage only to find himself in the path of an oncoming car. The car screeched to a halt and he paused to admire the vehicle. It was a Renault Alpine A310, and it seemed to still be in good condition. Suddenly, the door flew open and a women's voice shouted, "Get in!"

Without hesitation, Shinji jumped into the car and laid the duffel bag across his lap. He glanced over at the woman driving the car and realized that it was the same woman from the photograph. As Shinji went to greet Ms. Katsuragi, he heard an explosion sound in the distance. Looking out towards the explosion, his eyes fixed themselves on a giant monstrosity that appeared to be heading towards the city. "What the hell is that?" he asked with a yelp.

Without taking her eyes off of the road, Misato replied. "It's what we call an Angel. It's what Nerv was founded for. Didn't your father tell you about it in his letter?"

"No, all the letter said was for me to come here. Ten years without so much as a word and suddenly he wants to see me. He needs something, I know it."

Shinji returned his attention to the Angel and noticed that the attack craft seemed to be pulling out. As he told this to Misato, she stopped the car and leaned over him with a pair of binoculars. "What are they doing?" she mumbled. Suddenly, she dropped the binoculars and shouted, "Oh shit! They're gonna use an N2 mine."

While he had no idea what that was, Shinji knew it couldn't be good. Squeezing the duffel bag tightly against his chest, he made sure the dinosaur was fully protected as Misato threw her own body over his. The resulting explosion rolled the car over several times before it came to a stop on it's side. Pushing herself off of the young boy, she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Shinji replied. Misato gave him a curious expression, wondering what he had meant by "we". Shrugging it off, she pushed the car door open and pulled herself out. Extending a hand down to Shinji, she pulled the boy out of the car. Working together, the pair righted the vehicle and continued on to their destination.

"I think we've passed this place before."

Misato ignored Shinji's comment, still a little confused by the boy's demeanor on their trip down into the Geofront. He seemed to have been speaking quietly to someone, but Misato couldn't hear what he was saying. Since he didn't seem to be speaking to her, she brushed it off as his nerves. Nevertheless, she was concerned about Shinji's mental state, talking to people who weren't there was never a good sign.

A few turns later, the pair came to a stop in front of a set of elevator doors. As Misato went to push the button, the doors opened to reveal a blonde woman in a white lab coat. Shinji frowned slightly at the blonde's attire, the coat reminding him of his mother and her accident. Adjusting the duffel bag, Shinji made sure the stuffed dinosaur was as close to him as possible.

Shinji blocked out the two women's conversation, just waiting for the time when he would see his father. After ten years of being ignored and forgotten, Shinji would finally get the answers he needed. He would finally have a chance to reunite his two best friends. Shinji was so absorbed in his own thoughts, he almost didn't realize that Misato and the doctor, who's name he heard was Ritsuko, had stopped.

Grinding to a halt, Shinji looked back at the women as they directed his attention to the doorway in front of him. No light seemed to be able to penetrate the inky blackness that filled the room. Swallowing, Shinji steeled his nerves and entered the room. A few moments after entering, the lights snapped on and Shinji jumped back with a yelp. Staring at him seemed to be a giant purple monster. Getting his nerves under control, Shinji asked quietly, "What is it?"

"This is the Ultimate All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Weapon developed by humanity. The artificial human, Evangelion. That is Eva-01. Its construction carried out in complete secrecy, it is our – humanity's – final trump," Ritsuko replied.

"You will be the pilot," a voice from above said.

Shinji's head snapped upwards towards the sound of the voice. He found himself staring directly at the man he wanted to see, his father. "Hello Shinji," Gendo said emotionlessly.

"Hello Father, so this is why you called me here? To pilot your toy? I'll do it, but only if you answer my question," Shinji growled.

Gendo looked passively down at his son, not making any attempt to acknowledge his son's demand. Grinding his teeth, Shinji's anger bubbled up from deep within himself and he shouted, "Mari Makinami! Her father was part of Mom's experiment. I want to know if she's still alive."

Shinji waited silently for his father's response. A few moments passed and Gendo made no attempt to answer. "So that's how it's going to be?" Shinji asked. "Very well then, this is good-bye Father. I have no intention of trying to please you anymore."

As he turned his back on his father, Shinji heard him call a man named Fuyutsuki and tell him to wake someone named Rei. He fumed silently as his father told Rei that "the spare was unusable" and order her to come to the Eva cage. A minute or two later, a gurney wheeled it's way into the cage with a young woman lying on top of it. Shinji looked at her and realized that it appeared to be the same girl he had seen on the street earlier that day. He watched silently as she struggled to rise with her injuries. Suddenly, the cage shook violently, causing the occupants to lose their footing.

Shinji stumbled and dropped his duffel bag, causing some of the contents to spill out. His eye's widened in shock as he saw the stuffed dinosaur bounce across the catwalk towards the edge and the liquid below. Diving towards it, Shinji snatched up the dinosaur well before the edge and rolled over onto his back. As he skidded to a stop, he found himself directly in the path of the blue haired girl who had fallen off of the gurney as the cage shook. Throwing the hand holding the dinosaur out of her path, Shinji braced himself as the girl crashed down on top of him.

Checking to make sure she was okay, Shinji discovered that her fall had reopened some of her old wounds. Passing the girl to the doctors there, Shinji rose and dusted himself off. Looking up at his father once again, Shinji spoke coldly. "If you intended for this girl to raise my sympathy and make me want to pilot instead of her, it won't work. All you have to do is answer a simple yes or no question, and I'll pilot, but you've never been one to care about others requests. Good luck with your work Father."

Walking away from the girl, Shinji was startled when he heard his father speak again. It was just one word. "Yes."

Snapping his head back towards his father, Shinji's eyes shone with joy at that statement. "Well, then I guess you've got yourself a pilot. Let's do this then," he said, rolling his shoulders.

Making his way towards Misato and Ritsuko, Shinji noticed an expression of pity on Misato's face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Well, when you dove for Rei, you accidentally kicked your bag over the edge, this is all that's left," she said, holding out a slightly worn SDAT player. Examining the player, Shinji shrugged and said, "Well, the important stuff is okay. Oh, and I wasn't diving for Rei, I was going for him."

Shinji held up the stuffed dinosaur for Misato to see. Chuckling at the incredulous expression on her face, Shinji held the dinosaur out to her and said, "Why don't you hold on to him for me for now? I don't think he'll like what comes next."

Nodding wordlessly, Misato took the toy and held it close to her chest along with the SDAT player. Smiling, Shinji allowed Ritsuko to lead him towards the entry plug of the Eva. Attaching the A10 neural connectors, Shinji seated himself in the plug's seat, and waited for the excitement to start. Taking a deep breath, Shinji thought to himself, _You're alive, you're still alive. I promise, I'll reunite you two soon. I'm sorry it took so long, Mari._

* * *

AN: Wooo! This was fun. This story popped into my head recently and I knew I just had to write it. I'm a huge fan of Shinji/Mari, but there just aren't enough stories for them out there. As you can see, I'm not very good with naming stuffed animals, but I figured a little girl like Mari would come up with a name like that. Rest assured, the importance of Mr. Teeth will be explained next chapter. So anyway, thanks to anyone who is reading this, and please review. Remember, flames are always welcome.


	2. Chapter 2 Intel

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Evangelion.

* * *

Nerv Hospital

Geofront, Tokyo-3

Shinji Ikari awoke to find himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. He listened to the gentle beep of the medical equipment beside him. Looking left and right, Shinji scanned the room for his closest friend, Mr. Teeth. Sitting up, he groaned tiredly as he realized his friend was not there. Stepping out of the bed, Shinji felt strangely cold as he made his way to the door. As the cold feeling became more pronounced below the waist, he looked down. His eyes widened in shock as he muttered, "Where the hell are my clothes?"

Five minutes later, after finding all but one sock, Shinji was dressed and ready to leave. He approached the door a second time, only to have it open before he could reach it. Misato Katsuragi stepped back in surprise as she saw the young pilot standing in front of her. "Wow, I didn't expect to see you up just yet, especially after what happened to you," she said gently.

"What do you mean, 'what happened to me'?" Shinji asked tentatively.

"You mean you don't remember?" He shook his head, "All I remember is tripping and then that 'thing' grabbing me."

Misato stood there for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. After another moment, she spoke. "Maybe it's best if you don't remember, Shinji. The important thing is that you won. Anyway, I've got your stuff right here," she said, holding out Shinji's SDAT player and Mr. Teeth.

Shinji's blank face lit up at the sight of Mr. Teeth. Grabbing the dinosaur from Misato, Shinji held it close for a moment before bringing it up to eye level. "Hey, did you miss me?" he asked. Shinji stared at Mr. Teeth for a minute before nodding. Returning his attention to Misato he asked, "So what's the plan for me now?"

"Well, you're going to come stay with me," Misato said exuberantly.

Shinji stared at Misato with a confused expression. He cocked his head to one side and muttered, "No, I think she's serious. Why would she want to though?"

"Hey! I'm still here!" Misato shouted. "Now come on, let's go!"

The purple haired woman grabbed Shinji by the arm and dragged him out of the room. When they reached the elevator the pair waited a moment for the doors to open. The doors opened to reveal the last person either of them wanted to see, Shinji's father.

"Hello, Father. Thank you," the boy said quietly. Gendo stood silently with his arms folded behind his back. Misato watched nervously as the two Ikari men stared at each other. A few more seconds passed and the doors finally closed. Misato breathed a sigh of relief and the pair silently opted to take the stairs.

* * *

"Here, I got something for you. As a 'thanks for saving our asses' kinda gift," Misato said to Shinji as he sat himself in the passenger seat. A little confused, he took the manilla envelope that Misato offered him. As he opened the folder, Shinji let out a gasp of surprise. "I thought you'd like it, Misato said with a playful smirk.

Shinji didn't respond. He was too busy reading over the file in front of him. "Name: Makinami, Mari Illustrious. Age: 14. Date of Birth: 04/12/2001. Family: None. Nerv Status: Pilot. Current Station: North American Branch."

Misato glanced over at Shinji, wondering if he was reading the file aloud to himself or to the stuffed dinosaur. She watched as he took Mari's photograph from the file and stare at it. _She's really grown, and she's really pretty too,_ he thought with a blush. _I wonder if she still remembers us._

Shinji scanned the file one more time and turned to Misato. "What happened to her father, Dr. Makinami? He was still alive when I knew her," Shinji asked quietly.

"About four years ago, Dr. Makinami and his daughter were in a car accident. Dr. Makinami died on impact, while his daughter suffered severe injuries, including head trauma. I couldn't find anything on her mental state after the accident, though. Those records are sealed and I can't access them unless she's under our jurisdiction, sorry," Misato apologized.

"It's alright. I think I'll be okay if she's forgotten me, just as long as she remembers Mr. Teeth," Shinji said, holding up the dinosaur.

Misato gave Shinji a confused look and said, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you come by...'Mr. Teeth'?"

"Well, it was ten years ago now..."

"16...17...18...19...20. R-ready or n-not, here I come," called out four year old Shinji Ikari. His new "friends" insisted that they play hide-and-seek in the unused observation room. Despite the small space, there were plenty of desks and chairs covered by drop cloths, offering many places to hide. Shinji gazed nervously around the room for any sign of Mari or Mr. Teeth. After a few minutes of peering under the many drop cloths he spotted the tip of Mr. Teeth's tail poking out from under a nearby chair. Thinking he had found Mari, Shinji decided to get back at her for scaring him earlier.

Slipping around behind the adjacent desk, Shinji crawled quietly to the chair. He quickly lifted the sheet only to find Mr. Teeth staring back at him alone. Crawling under the chair, Shinji grabbed the dinosaur's arm and pulled it closer. At that moment the sheet in front of him flipped up to reveal a smiling Mari, who shouted, "Boo!"

The natural reaction for the timid child was to recoil in fear. Unfortunately, he was still beneath the chair. As he shot upward and away his head connected sharply with the metal seat bottom. The pain in his head was intense and the boy began to cry.

As Shinji's crying continued, Mari picked up Mr. Teeth and crawled over to her new friend. Putting Mr. Teeth under one arm, she wrapped her free one around the smaller boy. Pulling him close, Mari kissed the top of his head gently. Shinji's crying slowly eased to a gentle sniffle once Mari did that. As the boy dried his eyes, Mari asked softly, "Feeling better?"

Shinji nodded, his eyes red from the tears. "Sorry for scaring you like that. I didn't mean to hurt you," Mari apologized.

"It's okay," Shinji sniffled. "I bump myself a lot, so I'm used to it."

"You know what I think will make you feel better? Here, give Mr. Teeth a big hug and then you'll be better," the little girl said with a smile. She quickly pressed the green dinosaur into Shinji's arms and watched as the boy gave it a tight squeeze. Shinji gave another small sniffle before smiling widely. "You're right, I do feel better now," Shinji said.

Mari smiled back at her new friend. Looking away for a moment she spoke, "Good, now let's–."

Mari stopped suddenly as the lights throughout the lab began to flicker violently. The two children huddled together, terrified of what was happening. The lights flickered faster and faster until the bulbs began to explode in showers of sparks. As soon as the first bulb exploded, Shinji threw himself over Mari and Mr. Teeth, ignoring the burning pain coming from the sparks on his back.

When the last bulb exploded, the three companions sat quietly in the darkness until the emergency lights came on. As the lights came on, Shinji and Mari rose and made their way to the door. Mari passed Shinji and opened it, missing her friend's wince as the pain in his back escalated.

The two children watched stunned as the adults ran around the room shouting. Shinji could see his father pounding on a cylinder with a sealed hatch, screaming his mother's name. Still clutching the dinosaur, Shinji stepped forward and called out into the room, "Where's Mommy?"

Gendo stopped pounding and looked over at his son. In a cold tone he ordered, "Get them out of here."

Mari's father came over and picked his daughter up and turned to carry her out of the lab. Realizing what was in his hand, Shinji ran forward, calling out to his friend, "Wait, Mari!"

Mari saw Mr. Teeth in the boy's hand and looked towards his father, still struggling to get the hatch open. It was then that she made a decision. "Hang on to him for me. You can give him back when we see each other again," she said with a sad smile. Some how, she knew Shinji would need him more.

"I promise I'll take good care of him," Shinji said confidently. Shinji watched his first real friend leave and wished that they would see each other again soon. As soon as she was gone, his parents teacher, Fuyutsuki, came over and picked him up. Fuyutsuki wrapped an arm across the boy's back, oblivious to the burns there. Shinji let out a sharp gasp and promptly passed out.

"...and that was the last time I saw her. I was sent off to live with my Mother's relatives the next day. I haven't seen her or my Father in ten years," Shinji said sadly.

Misato, who had parked the car outside of a convenience store, stared at her new charge in shock. He had lost his Mother and best friend all in the same day. Leaning over, she pulled Shinji into a hug, pressing the boy's face into her impressive cleavage. Releasing her charge, Misato asked softly, "Are you alright?"

Shinji nodded. "I'm okay, it hurt losing Mother and Mari, but Mr. Teeth and my SDAT have kept me going. The burns on my back still hurt occasionally, but that's nothing," he replied dismissively.

"Alright then, let's go get some dinner," Misato said brightly. A few minutes later Shinji was staring in disgust at the contents of his new guardian's basket. It contained nothing but instant ramen and curry. "We are not eating that," the young pilot said sternly.

"We?" Misato asked back incredulously. _We'll need to talk about his attachment to that toy,_ she thought with a sigh. "Shinji..."

"No, I won't hear excuses. I'm not eating that stuff, and I can't allow you too either," Shinji replied. Misato's eyes widened in surprise. _He meant me? Well, that changes things, except I still can't cook,_ Misato thought sheepishly. Before she could respond, Shinji continued. "I can cook if that's what you're worried about. My aunt taught me a lot of things while I lived there."

Satisfied by that remark, Misato passed Shinji the basket. She watched quietly as he returned her precious instant food to the shelves and re-filled the basket with fresh meats and vegetables. A few minutes later, the pair was checking out at the register. As they were standing there, the pair could overhear the conversation going on at the next lane over.

"Yes, my husband told me to take the kids and evacuate as well. With all the damage that thing from Nerv did, it would be safer," on woman said.

"I agree, what were they thinking? Sending out something like that 'thing'? They had no idea what they were doing, how can we trust them to protect us?" the other woman replied.

Shinji blocked out the rest of the conversation. It wasn't until Misato put a hand on his shoulder that he realized the two women were gone. "Come on, Shinji. I want to show you something," she said softly, steering him out of the store.

* * *

"Wait for it..." Misato said excitedly. The pair were standing on a cliff overlooking Tokyo-3. The sun was setting behind the hills on the other side of the city. Shinji looked out and wondered why Misato would bring him out here. Abruptly, the purple haired woman's voice sounded again. "Now, watch."

Shinji watched transfixed as the buildings of Tokyo-3 slowly rose out of the ground, seeming to grow before his eyes. "This is Tokyo-3, our city," Misato said. "The entire city was designed as a fortress against the angels. Everything you see is ready to defend the geofront from an attack. This is the city that you protected, Shinji. You can hold your head up proud."

Shinji continued to watch the city silently. _I protected this place, huh? Well, this may not be Mari's city, but Misato has been nice to me, so I guess it was a good thing,_ the boy thought. _I may not have a real reason to fight the angels yet, but I know I have to stay alive, so I can give _him_ back to you, Mari._

"Amazing," Shinji muttered quietly. Misato smiled down at the young boy next to her and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Massaging it slightly, she gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Come on Shinji, it's time to go home," she told him.

"Right," he replied absently. _This is my home now. My home, my father's home, Misato's home, Ritsuko's home...Rei's home. I'll need to apologize, I shouldn't have treated her like that, like my father did,_ Shinji told himself. Turning away from the setting sun, the young man got into the passenger's seat and gripped the chair tightly. He muttered a silent prayer in the hopes that it would protect him from Misato's reckless driving on the way back to his new home.

Fifteen minutes later, Shinji was gratefully exiting from Misato's car, his groceries still intact. Shinji quietly followed Misato to the door of her apartment and watched as she unlocked the door. "Huh, it looks like they haven't delivered the rest of your stuff yet," she remarked as she opened the door.

"What stuff are you talking about?" Shinji asked curiously.

"You know, the rest of the stuff you packed in addition to your duffel bag. They should have delivered it here by now, instead of the first place you were supposed to stay," she explained.

Shinji's next statement caused Misato to drop her key's in shock. "I don't have anything else," he said quietly. After she dropped her keys, Misato spun around and stared open-mouthed at her charge. "What do you mean you don't have anything else?" she demanded sharply.

"I never really had much, didn't need it anyway. So I just packed the important stuff and got rid of the rest. Since I lost the duffel bag this is all I've got left," he replied, holding up his SDAT and Mr. Teeth. Misato looked him over once again, and realized that this boy really did need help. She silently promised to take the boy out for the essentials tomorrow. "Well, I guess we'll have fix that tomorrow, but for now, we're home," she said gently.

Shinji stood hesitantly outside the apartment door. "Thank you for having me," he said timidly. Misato frowned slightly at the boy's demeanor. _One minute he's serious and stern, the next minute he's shy and timid, and the next he's bold and courageous. Personality shifts like that are not normal_, she thought. _I'll have to get him checked out soon._

"Shinji, this is your home now too. Just say 'I'm home'," she said softly. Shinji shuffled his feet and whispered, "I'm home."

"Great, now come on in roomie," Misato said with a smile, and gave the boy a playful slap on the back. As her hand made contact, Shinji flinched painfully and dropped to his knees in pain. Recoiling slightly at first, Misato quickly knelt down next to the boy and asked concernedly, "Are you alright?"

Shinji turned his head just enough to show the purple haired woman a pained smile. "I'll be okay, you just hit the burn scars. They're okay if nothing strikes them," he ground out between gasps.

"I'm sorry, Shinji. I didn't mean to hurt you," Misato apologized.

"It's alright Misato, I know you didn't. Besides, it doesn't hurt nearly as much as all the pain my father has caused me," the young pilot replied.

Misato nodded understandingly. Helping the boy up, she took the groceries from him and led him into the apartment. "Sorry it's a little messy, I just moved in myself and haven't had a chance to fully unpack yet," she told him as she went to her room to change. Shinji stared out at the wasteland of garbage and dirty clothes in front of him and said himself, "If this is what she calls a 'little mess', I'd hate to see what a big mess is."

Shrugging it off, Shinji rolled up his sleeves and placed the grocery bags on the counter by the sink. After quickly washing up, Shinji managed to prepare a decent meal for himself and Misato. Placing the dinners on the table, Shinji searched the refrigerator for something to drink. As he opened the refrigerator, he was surprised to see that it was filled with nothing but beer.

"Do you have anything other that beer?" he asked Misato as she came out of her room.

"Nope! Why would I need anything else?"

Sighing, Shinji took a moderately clean glass and filled it with water from the sink. The pair quickly sat down to the meal Shinji prepared for them. During the course of the meal, Misato showered Shinji with praise and compliments about his culinary skills. He wasn't quite sure, since she was very drunk at the moment, but he swore that she had volunteered him to cook dinner every night. Shaking it off, Shinji finished his meal and placed the used dishes in the sink. Excusing himself, Shinji made his way to the bathroom to take a bath.

Misato sat at the kitchen and continued to drink her beer as she heard a girly scream sound from the bathroom. She watched as a naked Shinji ran out of the bathroom babbling about something he'd seen. As he stood there, a warm water penguin walked past him and into a small refrigerator. Misato picked up her beer and smiled. "That's Penpen, I guess you could call him our other roommate," she said cheerily. Looking Shinji over, she gave him a playful smirk and said, "You might want to put some clothes on, Shinji."

Shinji looked down and realized that he was once again walking around naked. Quickly covering himself up, Shinji ran embarrassed back into the bathroom. She was briefly surprised by the extensive scarring on his back. The burns had seemed to stretch out with time and Misato could see why it had hurt so much before. Shaking that feeling off, she gave a quiet chuckle before picking up another beer. "This is gonna be fun," she said with a smile.

* * *

A few hours later, Shinji laid awake in his new room, staring up at another unfamiliar ceiling. The tape in his SDAT clicked from track 25 to track 26. Clutching Mr. Teeth to his chest, Shinji rolled over and put his back to the door. He was surprised a few minutes later when he heard Misato knock on the door and call out his name quietly. Remaining silent, Shinji waited while Misato opened the door and poked her head into his room.

"Shinji," she said quietly. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you. There are a lot of people who were saved because of you. We're all proud of you and what you're doing. Just remember, it's a good thing, Shinji. Goodnight."

With that, she closed the door. Shinji pulled Mr. Teeth closer and thought to himself before sleep claimed him. _She's proud of me? For getting beat up like that? I can't think of what I did as a good thing, but it's necessary, to find her. I'll keep piloting as long as it takes, but I'll do it to see you again, Mari._

* * *

AN: Well now, I wanted to try and cover the stuff from episode 2, with a few twists of my own. I've always feared Misato's cooking, and just the thought of writing it makes me want to lose my own dinner. Also, the scarring will play a roll later when I introduce our favorite redhead, but I won't say any more right now. One more thing, I know that this is a Shinji/Mari story, but it's going to be a while before she even shows up. These beginning chapters are just supposed to set the mood and develop Shinji's feelings for Mari. Thanks for reading and please remember to review or flame, either one is fine.


	3. Chapter 3 Reason

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Evangelion.

* * *

"Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger," Shinji could hear Misato say through the com-line in the Eva. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger_, he thought to himself. An image of the third angel, Sachiel, appeared in front of him. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger_. Shinji pulled the trigger on the entry plug's cockpit and watched as the virtual shells impacted against the image of Sachiel. "Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger," he mumbled under his breath. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger_. Another image of Sachiel appeared, and Shinji repeated the action apathetically.

Another Sachiel image popped up, Shinji shot it down. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger_. An image moved out from behind a building to his left. Shinji slowly turned to face it and then shot it down. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger...Mari_. Another image appeared behind him. Point and shoot. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger...Mari_. Another image, in front of him this time. Point, shoot. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull the trigger, Mari_. Another image, point, shoot. _Just aim at the center of the target, and pull, Mari_. Another image, shoot. _Just aim at the center of the target, Mari_. Another, shoot. _Just aim at the center, Mari_. Another. _Just aim, Mari_. Another. _Mari_. Another. _Mari_. Another. _Mari_. Another. _Mari, Mari, Mari, Mari, Mari, Mari, Mari, MARI!_

The test plug darkened and Shinji felt the LCL drain slowly out of it. Rubbing the back of his neck tiredly, Shinji wondered just what he had been doing. He had no memory of what had happened in the past few minutes. Shrugging, Shinji made his way to the changing room to shower and put his school uniform back on. Despite not starting school until tomorrow, Shinji was wearing his uniform. He remembered Misato telling him last night that she'd take him to get more clothes today, but he wasn't sure. He figured it would be better not to push his luck.

As Shinji was making his way to the locker room, Misato, Ritsuko, and one of the bridge technician's, Maya Ibuki, were going over Shinj's simulation data. "This is unbelievable, his accuracy shot up drastically towards the end there," Misato exclaimed.

"That's nothing, Maya, show her his sync-ratio," Ritsuko commented.

Maya quickly brought up Shinji's sync-ratio on her screen. Turning it so the two women next to her could see, she pointed to a certain spike on the graph and began explaining. "Here, we can see that his sync-ratio increased at the same time his accuracy did. We can assume that what ever was going through his head at the time is the cause."

"What was his initial sync-ratio?" Misato asked curiously.

"I registered him at 41.3% yesterday during the battle with the third angel," Maya replied.

"And what was did it measure today?"

"Well, he started at about the same level, fluctuating between 40% and 41.5%," Maya said quietly. "But when his accuracy sharpened and his sync-ratio spiked, he clocked in at 62.7% at the highest point."

"He was at almost 63%?" Misato shouted incredulously.

Maya nodded vigorously. "What could cause such a drastic spike like that?" she asked.

"I dunno, but I'm gonna try and find out," Misato replied.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Ritsuko asked her friend.

"Well, since Shinji doesn't have anything but his SDAT player, school uniform, and Mr. Teeth, I'm taking him to get some more clothes," the purple haired woman replied.

Ritsuko and Maya looked at Misato like she was crazy. "'Mr. Teeth'?" Ritsuko asked.

"It's that stuffed dinosaur he carries. You know that girl he asked about before the battle yesterday?" Misato said.

"Yes. Pilot Makinami, right?"

"Yeah, anyway, the thing belonged to her. They met when they were kids, right before the first contact experiment. She gave him that little guy before she left, telling him to give it back to her when they next saw each other," Misato explained.

"So why didn't he return it?" Maya asked.

Misato gave the younger woman a sad look. "Because he hasn't seen her in ten years," she replied quietly.

The mood in the room darkened slightly, before Ritsuko waved it off and asked, "You said he doesn't have anything, what happened to the rest of his stuff?"

"Remember his duffel bag?"

"The one that went over the side? Yeah, I remember," Ritsuko said. "What about it?"

"That was everything he had. It was destroyed when it went over, now all he's got is the clothes on his back, and that little dinosaur," Misato explained. "So I'm taking him shopping to get some new clothes, he can't wear his school uniform all the time, can he?"

"No, I suppose not," Ritsuko replied thoughtfully. "Well, you have fun with that."

"Thanks Rits. So, Maya, want to join us? See cute, little Shinji in some hot clothes?" Misato asked the young tech.

"Umm...well, I do have the rest of the day off. O-okay, I'll join you two," she replied.

"Great," Misato exclaimed, slapping Maya roughly on the back. "You can interrogate Shin-chan about his little sync-ratio spike."

Maya paled.

* * *

Shinji sat uncomfortably in the front seat between Misato and Maya. Clutching his constant companion close to his chest, he turned to Misato and asked, "I don't see why I couldn't sit in the back?"

"Why Shinji," she said boisterously. "Two lovely ladies both wanted to sit next to you, and you would reject them? Shame on you."

"I'm sorry, Shinji," Maya said quietly. "I should have sat in the back, or found another way."

"It's not your fault Ms. Ibuki, Misato's always like this," Shinji told her with a wry smile.

"Call me Maya," she said with a wry smile of her own. "So, Misato asked me to come shopping with you two, do you know what you want to get?"

"I don't know, I figured I'd just get some more stuff like my uniform," he shrugged.

"No!" Misato shouted. "You have a chance to get some really cool stuff, and you just want more uniforms? No, you're getting cool stuff and that's final!"

"Alright, alright. You don't have to shout," Shinji said. Maya then watched as the teenager leaned forward and whispered to the stuffed dinosaur in his arms. "Yeah, I know she's crazy, but she's still nice. Don't be mean, Mr. Teeth."

Maya looked at him like he was crazy, but quickly hid it before Shinji could see it. A few uncomfortably cramped minutes later, the trio arrived at the shopping mall. Shinji and Maya grimaced slightly as Misato literally dragged them through the shopping center to a modest department store. They were quickly met by a female salesperson. "Hello, and welcome. Can I help you find anything today?" she asked.

"Yes," Misato said. "I need some help finding new clothes these two here."

"What?" Shinji and Maya shouted simultaneously.

"I understand that Shinji needs to get new clothes, but why me?" Maya asked.

"Easy, all you ever wear is your uniform or a t-shirt and jeans, you need to improve that wardrobe of yours Maya," Misato answered back with a smile.

Shinji, who had grudgingly left Mr. Teeth in the car at Misato's insistence(as a guard, she claimed), sighed and turned to Maya. "You might as well go along with it, she'll keep bugging you until you agree," he said.

Reluctantly, Maya agreed to try a few things on. The salesperson smiled, hoping to make a big sale on this group. "Well then," she stated with a smile. "How about we start with this young man right here?"

She motioned for Shinji to go ahead, but the boy hesitated. Looking over at his female companions, Misato nodded vigorously and said, "Go ahead Shinji, we'll be right behind you."

Shinji relaxed slightly and moved his gaze towards Maya. The young tech just smiled softly and lifted the flap on the messenger bag she was carrying. Shinji looked closely and could see a little green tail sticking out of the back of the bag. Shinji smiled a little at this, and turned back to the saleswoman. He quickly darted forward, still a little nervous about this shopping trip.

Shinji's nerves only increased as he saw all of the clothes the saleswoman and Misato kept bringing him. All of the shirts they brought him were flamboyantly colored and outrageously expensive. Seeing that he was being overwhelmed, Maya stepped in. She brought him over a tight fitting black t-shirt and over-large black button-down. "Here, try these on," she said.

Gladly accepting the clothes, Shinji ducked back into the dressing room to try them on. "Seriously Misato, Shinji is a very reserved boy, he wouldn't like the other clothes you were bringing," Maya scolded.

Misato dropped her head slightly in shame. "Sorry, I guess we just got carried away," she said sheepishly.

"That's alright, now how about we find some more subdued shirts for him, and some simple pants?" Maya asked.

"Sure, sounds great!"

With that, Misato dragged the grumbling saleswoman off into the store. Sinking heavily into the chair next to the dressing room door, Maya sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment when she heard a voice sound from her left. "Thanks Maya, some of those clothes were just weird," it said.

Maya slowly turned her head to look at the young boy standing next to her. She studied the young man next to her, looking over his clothes. The button-down shirt was larger than she had though, and the sleeves hung down passed his hands. Rising, she motioned for Shinji to come over. When he reached her, she gingerly began rolling up the sleeves on his shirt so they stopped in the middle of his forearm. "There, now you look perfect. With the black pants you have on it makes you look very intimidating," she said.

"Thanks Maya," was all he said.

"You already said that Shinji," Maya replied.

"I know, but the second one was for bringing him," he responded, pointing to her bag.

"Oh...you're welcome."

Misato returned a moment later with a few more shirts in her arms. There were a few reds and oranges in the group, but there was one that caught Shinji's eye. Reaching out, he pulled a teal shirt from the pile and held it up. _It's the same color as Mari's eyes_, Shinji thought. _Wait, why do I know that?_

Ducking back in to the dressing room, Shinji quickly exchanged his black shirt for the teal one. He hurried his way out of the dressing room to show Misato and Maya. They nodded their approval and Shinji smiled. He headed back into the dressing room to change into his old clothes, and came out with a few moments later carrying a pile of shirts, including the black and teal ones. As he exited, he found an interesting scene unfolding in front of him.

Misato and the saleswoman, realizing that Shinji was finished, had decided to turn their attention to Maya. The quickly began bombarding the young woman with skirts and dresses, each one more provocative than the last. After about twenty minutes, and one very short mini dress, Maya had had enough. This decision did not deter the saleswoman, who began making Misato try them on. This turn of events didn't bother Misato unduly. The purple haired woman decided that she could always use a few new dresses, and this would give Maya a chance to talk to Shinji.

* * *

Shinji and Maya sat quietly side by side as Misato tried on dress after dress. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to talk to Shinji, Maya decided that it was now or never. Turning to Shinji, she whispered quietly, "Hey, Shinji? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Maya. What is it?" Shinji replied.

"Well, during the testing this morning, there was a point when your accuracy, as well as your sync-ratio, increased dramatically. I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me what you were thinking about?"

Shinji was silent for a moment, his face an unreadable mask. Nervous, Maya attempted to ease the situation. "It's alright if you don't, I was just curious. I know I have no right to pry into your thoughts, sorry," she apologized.

"It's alright, Maya, I don't mind telling you," Shinji said quietly. Taking a deep breath, he leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling. "I was thinking about Mari," was all he said.

"Pilot Makinami? Why her?"

"Well, she's my best friend...well, along with the little guy in your bag," he said, pointing towards where Mr. Teeth was hidden. "She was one of the first, and only, people to be nice to me just to be nice. Not because she wanted something from me, she just wanted to play. Then I started thinking about how she's a pilot too. I can't remember all of my time fighting the third angel, but I do remember the pain. I wanted to run away for a moment after that...but just for a moment.

"I knew then that if I had run away, that a lot of people would have gotten hurt. My pain didn't mean as much then. But that wasn't the only reason," Shinji said.

"What was the other reason?" Maya asked tentatively.

"Well, I still pilot because I don't want Mari to."

"What do you mean?"

"Piloting the Eva hurts, no matter what you do, you're going to get hurt. I don't want Mari to get hurt, not because of the Eva. So I'll keep piloting, no matter how much it hurts, I'll keep going," Shinji said, full of resolve.

Maya remained quiet. She was surprised by Shinji's reason for fighting. _That's not friendship that's driving you_, she thought. _That's love._

"I think that's a good reason to pilot Shinji, but don't forget that your health is still important. Just keep fighting with us Shinji, and we'll take care of you," Maya told him.

"Thanks Maya, that means a lot to me," he said with a soft smile.

"Well, you two seem cozy, it's time to head out now," came a voice from behind them. Shinji and Maya turned to see Misato standing there behind them, arms laden bags. "I got your stuff here too, Shinji. Now it's time to head home. Maya, do you want come have dinner with us?"

"I don't know..."

Shinji gently placed a hand on Maya's arm. "It's no trouble, please, won't you come have dinner with us?"

Maya smiled at the younger boy. "Sure, that sounds wonderful."

"Well, let's roll then! Shinji, take the bags," Misato ordered.

Taking the bags from Misato, Shinji trudged after the two women, smiling slightly. _This is kinda nice, almost like having a real family. Hopefully one day I can have dinner with Mari like this_, Shinji thought. Sliding into the middle, he settled in for the ride home, hoping that he had enough food for three people and a warm water penguin.

* * *

Crack. Thud.

Shinji hit the ground roughly, clutching his aching cheek with his left hand.

"Sorry new kid, I had to do it," said a tall kid in a dark blue track suit.

"Sorry about Touji, his little sister was hurt in the last fight," said another boy with glasses.

"Shut up Kensuke," Touji yelled.

Shinji watched as the two boys started to argue. Taking his hand off of his face, Shinji started to sit up, grabbing his school bag in the process. "It's not like I wanted to pilot," Shinji mumbled.

That got Touji's attention. He quickly stomped over to Shinji and kicked him roughly in the chest. Shinji crashed back into the dirt as Touji continued to kick him while he was down. Kicking him one last time, Touji made a noise of contempt as he stalked off, with Kensuke trailing after him. Shinji tried to raise himself up, but failed. Collapsing back into the dirt, Shinji closed his eyes for a moment. Despite the fact that his eyes were closed, he could still barely see the sun shining down on his face. A moment latter, the sun seemed to vanish.

Shinji opened his eyes. There, staring down at him, was Rei Ayanami. She seemed to be covered from head to toe in bandages. Her right arm was covered by a heavy cast and sitting in a sling, while bandages wrapped across her forehead covering her right eye. She stood over Shinji, silently staring down at him. When she finally spoke, her voice was so soft and delicate that, for a moment, Shinji had thought he had imagined it. "There is an emergency, we are needed at Nerv," was all she said.

Lifting himself painfully off of the ground, Shinji grabbed his bag and trudged after the wounded girl. She quickly led him to the nearest entrance to the Geofront and the pair descended to Nerv in silence. As the pair made their way to headquarters, Shinji struggled to find the proper words to apologize to Rei. He knew that he had treated her wrongly, as though he didn't care whether she lived or died. As he wracked his brain trying to figure out just how to say he was sorry, he completely lost track of where they were. Just as he was about to apologize, he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Misato's voice. "Shinji, suit up and get to Unit 01," she ordered sharply.

"Y-yes Ma'am," he replied.

Shinji ran to the locker room and stripped out of his school uniform and slid on the plugsuit. Sealing the suit and pressurizing it, Shinji secured Mr. Teeth in his locker and rushed to the Eva cages. Waving briefly to the work crews down in the cages, he hopped into the entry plug and waited for insertion. He could hear Misato talking with Maya and the other techs in the command center, relaying orders to them to begin plug insertion. Shinji watched as LCL filled the plug. He held his breath until the fluid passed his head. Once the plug was full, Shinji exhaled and took a few deep breaths of the LCL.

Lungs full of LCL, Shinji heard Misato's voice over the speaker giving the order to move Unit 01to the catapult. Locked into the catapult, he braced himself as Unit 01 rocketed to the surface. Pausing for a second as the catapult reached the end of it's track, Shinji could feel the blood pounding in his ears. Barely registering Misato's information, Shinji instinctively reached for the pallet rifle and opened fire of Shamshel, the fourth angel.

The heat of the moment causing him to temporarily forget his training, Shinji kept a continuous stream of fire focused on Shamshel. The repeated impacts of the rifle shells, however, caused a cloud of smoke to form. Blocked from view, Shinji didn't see the attack coming until it had already struck. Pallet rifle destroyed by Shamshel's energy-tentacles, Shamshel quickly struck again, blowing Unit 01 back. Shinji tried to rise and confront this dangerous enemy, ignoring Misato's angry yells about him forgetting his training. Making his way towards the second pallet rifle, Shinji can see the attack this time.

Blocking the tentacles with his arms, he is blown back again, crashing into the mountain side on the outskirts of the city. Shamshel whips it's tentacles forward once more, but this time Shinji manages to catch them with his right hand. Bracing his left hand on the ground, Shinji could no longer hear anything but the heavy beat of his own heart. Grabbing the second tentacle, Shinji used them to pull himself up and lunged forward. Oblivious to the minimal time remaining, due to a severed umbilical cable, Shinji forced Shamshel back.

"Shi***, re**eat. Retr*** dam**t," Shinji could hear Misato saying over the com-line. _She want's me to retreat? She's right, I can't handle this right now_, he thought. He was about to comply with her order, when a face flashed into his mind. A beautiful brunette girl with teal eyes and red glasses. Mari's face.

_Mari..._ "Dammit, I can't run now, I'm the only one who can do this," he unknowingly said aloud. Wrapping the energy-tentacles around his hands, Shinji pulled upwards sharply, damaging the tentacles. Releasing the one in his right hand, he reached up pulled his progressive knife out of the left shoulder pylon. Releasing the second tentacle, Shinji gripped the blade in both hands and charged forward. Shamshel, reeling back from it's release, had exposed it's core clearly to Shinji. Seizing the opportunity, he rammed the progressive knife into the fourth's core, pushing it in as far as he could. As the blade went as far as it could go, Shinji could hear the warning klaxons, telling him that he was almost out of power. Deciding he had no other choice, he braced himself and twisted the blade.

That was enough. The fourth angel's core shattered, showering Unit 01 in it's blood. As Unit 01 finally ran out of power, Shinji slumped in his seat, exhausted. The last thing he heard before he passed out, was Misato ordering rescue crew to retrieve "the third child". Unconscious, Shinji was temporarily free of the lecture that he would be receiving upon his return. The blackness of his mind soon turned to dreams of an older couple, both brunettes, standing on a hill, watching a pair of children running through a field.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to really perfect this chapter. I've always kind of disliked the Shamshel fight, like "Why wouldn't he try something like twisting the blade to fracture the core?" or "Why does he let those idiots in the entry plug?". Plus, Shamshel's like a space lobster with tentacles, it's just kind of weird. Anyway, ignoring my pointless rant, I wanted to show the extent of Shinji's feelings, but without him realizing. Please remember, it will be a while before Mari shows up, so please don't ask when she'll show up. There is a big plan in place for her arrival, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. So, please R&R, and always remember, flames are welcome.


	4. Chapter 4 Relationships

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Evangelion.

* * *

"Shinji, why didn't you follow my orders?"

The boy in question looked up at his guardian with tired eyes. He had just regained consciousness after his battle with Shamshel, only to find that Misato wanted to speak with him immediately. Forgoing a trip to the infirmary to have his hands bandaged, Shinji now stood before Major Katsuragi, looking for all the world to be dead on his feet.

"I asked you a question Shinji, why didn't you follow my orders? Why didn't you let them into the cockpit?" she asked sternly.

Shinji perked up at this. _What is she talking about?_, he wondered. "What do you mean? Who should I have let into the cockpit?" he asked, confused.

"Your two classmates," she replied. "Didn't you see them sitting there in between the fingers of Unit 01 after you hit the mountain side?"

"No, I was too focused on the angel, I couldn't even hear your order, all I could hear was the blooding pumping through my ears," he explained.

Misato's eyes softened slightly at this. _So he couldn't hear me then, that explains why he ignored that order, but what about the retreat order?_, she thought to herself. Considering this carefully, she decided to just be direct with the boy. "I know you heard my retreat order, you even replied to my transmission, so why did you disobey it?"

"I said that out loud," the boy muttered quietly. Shaking his head, he steeled his gaze and trained it on the older woman. "I disobeyed because I'm the only one who could do it. No one else here can fight the angels, so it has to be me."

"That's no excuse Shinji, you could have retreated and we could have figured out an easier way for you to fight it," Misato barked back at him. "I'm your superior officer Shinji, if I give you an order, you're supposed to follow it. That is a soldier's duty."

"But I'm not a soldier, Misato," Shinji shouted back. "I'm not, and if I fail, if I retreat, it'll just be a matter of time until he makes her pilot it instead. I can't let that happen, if she does she could get hurt...or worse."

Misato recoiled slightly at Shinji's words. She'd never heard such anger from the boy, but she knew why. _He's afraid that his father will make Rei pilot instead of him. But why is he so concerned with her health? Wasn't he going to let her pilot against the third angel? Maybe that was a bluff to force his father's hand, to give him the information on his friend. Maybe Shinji isn't such a heartless kid after all. I guess I can try to help him with his little crush on Rei_, she thought. Realizing that Rei had far more training than him though, led her to believe that it might be best to have Rei help him in battle, rather than have Shinji defend her.

"Shinji," she began softly. "You don't have to worry about her, she's a trained pilot, she's fully prepared for the dangers that come with the job."

This was the wrong thing to say. Upon hearing this, Shinji exploded. "NO! I don't care if she's trained, just getting in the Eva can hurt you," he shouted, thinking about Rei's injuries. _Why is she so keen on having Mari pilot?_, he thought. "I won't let her pilot, not if I can help it. Her safety is more important than mine. I'll keep fighting until there's nothing left...of me or the enemy."

With that, Shinji fell silent. The boy would say no more on the matter, and Misato decided that her disagreement with Shinji's actions had been settled. Dismissing him, she absently told the boy that she would see him at home. Nodding goodbye, Shinji made his way home to prepare dinner for the two of them, and clean up any mess that Misato might have made while he was unconscious. Sighing heavily, he thought to himself, _I'm doing this for you, Mari. I hope that you never have to fight against these angels._

* * *

The next day, Shinji returned to school, hoping to avoid any unnecessary confrontations with Touji. The jock had really done a number on his jaw, and he shuddered to think of what Touji would do to him if he found out about his ignoring the order to let him enter the cockpit. As he reached the classroom, he made his way over to the class representative, Hikari Horaki. Explaining the reason for his absence, Shinji apologized for missing class. Hikari brushed it off, claiming that he had a perfectly good excuse, just like Touji and Kensuke. Confused, Shinji decided to ask just what their excuse was, wondering why they had missed class at all.

Needless to say, Shinji was stunned to hear that the two boys had been seized by Section 2 agents moments after the battle had concluded. Deciding that he should see if at least Kensuke was alright, Shinji asked Hikari if she knew where the two boys were now. Thanking her for her help, Shinji headed off to find the two boys, hoping that they weren't treated too badly by Section 2.

He made his way outside and started towards the track, hoping that he could catch the boys on their way back to the classroom. He was in luck, Touji and Kensuke were strolling across grounds, looking no worse for wear after their visit with Section 2. Shinji came to a halt between the approaching boys and the door, and waited. Kensuke was the first to spot the Eva pilot and nudged the taller boy next to him to get his attention. Touji fixed his gaze on Shinji, it was not a look of anger, however, but a look of guilt. When the three boys finally stood face to face, Touji spoke first.

"Hit me," was all he said. This confused Shinji, why would Touji want to be hit, especially since Shinji was responsible for his sister's injuries. Seeing the confused look on the pilot's face, Kensuke stepped in to explain. "It's his way of apologizing. After that battle we saw you get carted off on a stretcher, your hands looked pretty bad man. Plus, that old guy really chewed us out, saying that we could have gotten you killed. Add in the fact that Touji's sister yelled at him for hitting you, and you can see why he'd want you to hit him."

"Shut up, Kensuke. I just want to even the score between us, it wouldn't feel right if you didn't get back at me," Touji mumbled.

Shinji grinned slightly before cocking his fist back. The force of his punch cause Touji to fall backwards into the dirt, much like Shinji did the other day. Lying on the ground, groaning in pain, Touji was surprised when Shinji extended a hand to help him up. Gladly accepting the proffered hand, Touji was pulled up sharply. He released Shinji's hand and brushed himself off. As he went then to apologize fully, he noticed that Shinji still had his hand out. Realizing what Shinji wanted, Touji grasped the other boy's hand firmly and shook it. Shinji did the same for Kensuke, and like that, Shinji had two new friends.

* * *

A few days later, after examining the remains of the fourth angel, Shinji finds himself staring at Rei during class. _What about her could cause my father to act so recklessly? I know that if it had been me, he would let the rescue crews deal with it, it wouldn't have mattered if I survived or not_, Shinji thought bitterly. He continued to stare at Rei, a strange feeling bubbling up inside of him. _What is this I'm feeling? Could it be jealousy?_

He considered this thought carefully. _It wouldn't surprise me if I was. Rei got everything I ever wanted, my father's approval, and what did she do to get it? I don't know, but I can't let my jealousy get the better of me. I still need to apologize for my actions that day, I just need to find the time._

Shinji was snapped out of his thoughts by his new friends. Touji flung himself at Shinji, grabbing the smaller boy in a playful headlock. Catching sight of Rei seated by the window, Touji decided it might be fun to tease his new friend. "So, Ayanami huh? Can't say I blame you, but she's so cold to everyone. Wouldn't you rather have a girl like the class rep?" Touji asked.

"It's not like that," Shinji blurted out. Recovering, he added, "I was just wondering why she's always alone."

"Well, she's an ice queen. Never talks to any, ignores everyone who tries to talk to her. That's just how she is," Kensuke explained. Taking one last glance at the lonely Rei, Shinji sighed and decided that he would apologize at the next opportunity he got. Turning back to his friends, he pretended to go along with their conversation while he waited for class to start. He gently patted his school bag to make sure Mr. Teeth was still securely inside. He had decided to keep Mr. Teeth with him at all times until he had fully settled into life here in Tokyo-3. A moment later, he heard Hikari call for all students to "Stand, Bow, Sit". Following her instructions, Shinji blocked out the teacher's lecture on Second Impact, and waited for the lunch break to arrive.

* * *

Two days later, Shinji decided to make his move. As the lunch bell rang, Shinji rose from his seat and walked over to Rei, who continued staring out the window. Standing before her desk, Shinji cleared his throat to gain her attention. His courage started to fail him as she slowly, ever so slowly, turned to face him. The only remnant of her ordeal involving Unit 00 was an eye patch over her right eye. This, however, did nothing to dampen her icy gaze. Fixing her good eye on Shinji, he was surprised to realize that her eyes were red. Flinching slightly, Shinji contemplated running before she could speak to him, but it was too late. Opening her mouth, she quietly said, "Yes, Pilot Ikari?"

The cold monotone of her voice made the young man flinch. Shaking it off, he steeled his nerves and held out a bento box and said to the girl, "Here. I noticed that you never have lunch, so I just thought..."

He tapered off, not sure what else to say to the strange girl seated before him. Rei, to her credit, showed no emotion to silently panicking boy. She continued to stare at him with that piercing red eye and said, "I do not eat meat."

Relaxing slightly at her response, Shinji responded in turn. "I know, I wanted to make sure that you weren't allergic to anything, and I found out that you don't eat meat. The meal is entirely vegetarian, I just thought you might want to have something different for a change."

"Why would I want to change my routine, Pilot Ikari?"

"Well, sometimes change can be good...can't it?" he asked hesitantly. Rei seemed perplexed by this response, almost as considering all the possibilities of "change". All the while, Shinji remained frozen in front of her, bento still clutched in his outstretched hand. The two pilots remained silent, carefully studying each other for another minute, completely unaware of the crowd of students watching them. Another minute passed before Rei finally reached up to accept the bento from Shinji. As soon as the bento left his hand, Shinji breathed a heavy sigh of relief and excused himself. He had originally intended to apologize to Rei after he had delivered the bento, but the sheer act of conversing with the enigmatic girl had left him exhausted. He slumped back into his seat and opened up his own bento, and tried to figure out what had just happened.

* * *

The following evening, Shinji found himself tasked with once again making dinner for three, this time with no prior warning. Misato had arrived home from work with Dr. Akagi in tow. She had immediately barged into the kitchen to tell Shinji that Ritsuko would be joining them. Shocked by this little development, Shinji angrily demanded to know why she hadn't told him earlier. Misato absently replied that it had came to her at the end of the work day. Pissed, Shinji calmed himself enough to graciously greet Ritsuko, before excusing himself to go to the store for more ingredients. He was not even out the door when Misato had finished her first beer and opened the second.

* * *

Ritsuko found herself staring at the strangest scene, Shinji greeting her warmly before excusing himself, then storming out in a rage. Turning to Misato she asked, "What was all that about?"

Draining her second beer in a single gulp, Misato sighed happily and retrieved another can before responding. "Well, you know how I told you he wanted you to come by for dinner, to thank you? Yeah, I lied, I wanted to talk to you about him and needed him out of the way," she said, finishing her third beer and opening a tin of sardines for Penpen.

"Why would you do something like that? What could possibly be so important that you'd want to piss off an unstable child like Shinji?" Ritsuko demanded.

Over the next few minutes Misato recounted her conversation with Shinji about his insubordination, and her take on it. Ritsuko stared, opened mouthed, at the purple haired woman for a moment before formulating a response. "So, let me get this straight. You believe that Shinji likes Rei, and that his actions in the cage before his first battle were merely a bluff to get his father to tell him what he wanted to know? How can you be sure that he was talking about Rei?"

"C'mon Rits, think about it. Who else could it be? He hasn't met any other girls who can pilot the Eva," Misato replied with a belch.

Making a small expression of disgust at her friend's actions, Ritsuko stared her down and asked, "What about Pilot Makinami? Couldn't he be concerned about his friend?"

Misato waved that thought off. "No way, the way he was talking, it was nowhere near friendship. He liked this girl, and he hasn't seen Mari in ten years," Misato said, completely forgetting the photograph from the dossier.

"Okay," Ritsuko reasoned. "Let's say you are right, and that Shinji likes Rei. What do you want me to do about it?"  
Misato's cheerful expression vanished for a moment while she considered this. "Hmm...let's see, what can you do? Hmm...oh, I've got it," she exclaimed.

"What?"

"Rei's new ID card, you can ask Shinji to deliver it to her tomorrow," Misato explained with a smile.

"How does that help?" Ritsuko demanded.

"Easy, since they don't have school tomorrow, Shinji will have no choice but to take the card to her apartment. How's that for a plan?"

Ritsuko gazed thoughtfully at her friend for a moment. "I must say, it's not a bad plan, all things considered. But that still doesn't change one thing," she said carefully.

"What do you mean?" Misato asked.

"How do you expect anything to happen between them? Both Shinji and Rei have zero social skills, did you hear how he made friends with those two idiots that Section 2 picked up?"

"Um...wasn't it something to do with...punch?" Misato offered tentatively.

"No, it was a punch. Shinji nailed the tall boy right in the face."

"Oh...well, I'm sure nothing like that will happen. Anyway, will you help me here?"

"Fine," Ritsuko relented. She knew from experience that nothing would dissuade Misato at this point. Sighing, she made sure that the ID card was still in her pocket. Looking over at Misato, she could see a look on her face, almost like the cat that caught the canary. Shaking her head, Ritsuko ordered Misato to get her a beer, she knew she was going to need it for what was to come.

* * *

The next morning, Shinji found himself staring up at a dilapidated apartment building wonder just how he had gotten himself in to this. The conversation last night seemed innocuous enough, questions about school, his friends, Rei, even about Mr. Teeth and Mari. As he had talked about Mari, he saw a curious expression on Dr. Akagi's face, almost amused by his words. Wondering what she found so funny, Shinji was surprised when she asked him to deliver Rei's ID card for her. Agreeing, Shinji assumed that it could wait until Monday, but was proven wrong when Misato informed him that she would be doing a reactivation test for Unit 00 tomorrow. Taking a moment to study the card for an address, Shinji reluctantly agreed.

He found it odd though that Misato insisted on teasing him about Rei. He had no real interest in the girl, other than the fact that his father cared more for her than he did Shinji. He also still had yet to apologize to her for his actions at their first meeting. Sighing, he made his way up to Rei's door and rung the bell. Silence. Shinji examined the ringer and realized that it was broken. Turning his attention to her door, he noticed that the mail slot was full. Confused by this, the boy wondered if Rei really lived here at all, or if this apartment was abandoned like the rest of the building. Knocking on the door, Shinji waited a moment for a response. Hearing nothing coming from inside, he tried again. Still no answer. Against his better judgement, he decided to try the door to see if it was open.

As the door swung open, Shinji peered into the darkness of Rei's apartment. Stepping inside, he called out nervously, "Pardon my intrusion."

Removing his shoes, he tip-toed into the apartment, not so much out consideration in case Rei was sleeping, but out of disgust at the conditions. There were piles of garbage bags, bloody bandages and soiled school uniforms everywhere. Upon further inspection, however, he realized that while the apartment was a mess, it was still organized. All the objects scattered on the girl's floor were grouped together by type. As he continued to scan the room, his eyes came to rest on a pair of glasses atop her dresser. Gingerly making his way over to them, Shinji lifted them up to inspect them.

The frames were warped, and the lenses cracked, but Shinji could easily tell who they had originally belonged to. They were the exact same style as the pair his father wore when he was a child. Hearing a sound coming from behind him, he quickly replaced the glasses on the dresser and turned around, stammering out an apology. "I'm sorry Ayanami, I never meant to intru-"

The words died in his throat. There, standing completely naked in front of him, was Rei Ayanami. He quickly averted his gaze, spinning around to face the wall, muttering out another apology. Rei, however, seemed unperturbed by his presence and went about dressing herself slowly. Shinji stood stiffly, still facing the wall, when Rei asked, "Why are you here?"

"Well, no one answered the door, so I just thought..."he tapered off, unsure of how to explain his presence in her apartment. Suddenly, remembering the ID card, he fished it out of his pocket and continued. "Dr. Akagi wanted me to bring this to you, she said that your old card wouldn't work anymore," he said quietly, holding the card out behind himself, making sure to keep his gazed fixed on the wall. He stood there quietly, waiting for Rei to take the ID card. He was surprised when he suddenly heard the front door to the apartment open and close. Removing his gaze from the wall, Shinji realized that he was now alone in Rei's apartment.

He hurried after her, trying to keep up as she made her way to the nearest Nerv entrance. He watched as she attempted to enter the Geofront with her old ID card. After her third failure, Shinji stepped forward, holding out the new card. "Here, try this," was all he said. Rei snatched the card from his hand and scanned it, the console lighting up green to indicate it's acceptance. She brushed passed Shinji, continuing to ignore him. Sighing, Shinji scanned his own ID and hurried after her.

"Ayanami, please wait," he said, chasing after her to the escalator. Rei paused for a moment, before stepping on to the escalator. Shinji ran onto the escalator and down a few steps until he was two steps behind her. "Ayanami," he began gently. "I want to apologize for my actions when we first met."

"Why?" she asked, cutting him off.

Temporarily stunned by this question, Shinji took a second to compose himself before answering. "Because it was wrong of me to treat you that way. I had no right to act as though you didn't matter. You're a human being and you deserve to be treated with respect. I'm sorry that I didn't show you any on our first meeting."

Rei remained silent upon hearing this. Shinji watched the back of her head tensely as he watied for a response. He didn't care if she accepted his apology or not, all that matters was that she at least acknowledged it. A moment later, she responded. "I accept your apology, but it is not needed," she said in her usual monotone. At that, Shinji felt all the tension leave his body. He still wondered why she thought his apology was unnecessary, but it didn't matter anymore. Deciding it was time to change the subject, he asked, "Aren't you nervous, about the reactivation test today?"

"Why should I be?"

"Well, after what happened last time, I know I'd be scared," he relied.

"I have faith in the Commander, don't you?"

Shinji let out a snort of derision at this. "How can I? That man abandoned me for ten years, only contacting me once he had a use for me. How can I trust a man that does that?"

Slap.

Shinji recoiled backwards, falling on to the step behind him. He looked up at Rei, and he could see emotion clearly on her face. She lowered her hand back to her side and let her face relax back into it's usual emotionless mask. Rubbing his cheek gently, Shinji decided that it would be best to avoid speaking about his father with Rei.

* * *

The reactivation experiment went off without any problems and Shinji was just about to eject from Unit 01 when the warning sirens went off. Maya's image appeared in the com-line box informing him that an angel has appeared in the center of Tokyo-3. Settling himself in, Shinji prepares to launch to the surface. The trip to the streets of Tokyo-3 takes only a few seconds and Shinji is ready to fight as soon as the catapult comes to a halt. Unfortunately for him, the fifth angel, Ramiel, is prepared for his arrival. The angel releases a high-powered energy beam that strikes the unsuspecting Unit 01 full on. Shinji screams in pain, the LCL around him rapidly rising in temperature.

* * *

"What the hell was that? What's Shinji's status?"

The techs on the command bridge scrambled to find the answers to Misato's questions. "I'm not sure Ma'am, it seems to be some sort of energy beam, most likely produced by the Inner Torus Reactor that this angel possesses," said one of the bridge techs, Makoto Hyuga.

"I can't get a reading on the Pilot's brainwaves Ma'am," Maya replied. "But his heart rate is approaching cardiac arrest."

"Eject the plug now," Misato ordered sharply.

"Negative, do not eject the plug," came a cold voice from behind her. She turned to see Gendo Ikari, sitting calmly in his seat, staring almost uninterestedly at the scene unfolding before him on the screen.

"But Sir," Misato began before she was cut off, this time by Nerv's Sub-Commander, Kozo Fuyutsuki.

"Commander Ikari is right, Major Katsuragi. The only thing keeping Unit 01 intact at this moment is the Pilot's A.T. field. If we eject the plug, we'll lose both the Eva and it's pilot," he explained.

"Damn," Misato swore. Thinking fast, she ordered Makoto to raise the blast shields in front of Unit 01. Three heavy metal plates rose up from the ground in front of Unit 01, protecting it from the dangerous energy beam. "Alright, lower the catapult," Misato ordered.

"It won't move Ma'am," replied Shigeru Aoba, another bridge tech. "Everything is fused together from the blast, the catapult budge."

"Then blow the bolts holding it up, drop the whole block if you have to, just get him back down here," she barked.

Moments later, the explosive bolts holding up the catapult detonated, dropping Unit 01 along with several buildings back down into the Geofront. Misato breathed a sigh of relief, but her relief only last a moment. As soon as Unit 01 was out of the line of fire, the energy beam dissipated and Ramiel began lowering a drill towards the ground. "What the hell?" Misato asked, confusion plastered on her face.

"It seems as if the fifth angel has lowered some kind of drill and is proceeding to break through the armor plates between it and the Geofront," Makoto replied.

"How long until it breaks through?"

"At the current rate and speed, I estimate that it will break through the last plate just after midnight Ma'am," he said.

"Damn, that gives us just ten hours to think up a plan. Maya, what's Shinji's condition?" Misato asked.

"Critical Ma'am. He's just gone into surgery, the doctor's don't know yet the extent of his injuries," the young woman replied.

"Dammit, I need to think. Keep me posted on the angel's progress, I need to check the records to see if I can't find something to use against this thing," Misato said tersely. She quickly made her way off of the bridge, oblivious to the fact that the Commander and Sub-Commander were no longer there either.

* * *

Shinji's consciousness faded in to the rhythmic sound of a heart monitor. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself staring up at a familiar, yet unwelcome, ceiling. "So I'm here again...what happened this time?" he asked aloud.

"You were hit by an energy beam from the fifth angel," said a voice to his left. Turning his head, he could see Rei Ayanami sitting next to his bed, a tray of food next to her on the table. Shinji sat up slowly, bracing himself on the bed's railings. Unbothered by his current condition, Rei continued. "We are to report to Major Katsuragi at 1000 hours for Operation Yashima. At 1130 hours we are to be in position to begin the operation at 0001 hours," she said. "I have brought you a meal, I would suggest that you eat before the operation and then get dressed."

Shinji looked down to find himself once again naked in the hospital bed. Securing the sheets around his waist, he returned his attention to Rei and asked, "Do you know where my clothes are?"

Rei pointed to an empty seat by the door containing a neatly folded stack of clothes. "Your clothes are over there, but you seem to be missing a sock," she replied.

Shinji chuckled slightly. "There's always one missing," he said quietly. Clearing his throat, he asked Rei cautiously, "So, what is Operation Yashima?"

"Major Katsuragi was procured an experimental positron rifle from the JSSDF which will be set up outside of the fifth angel's attack zone. The rifle will borrow power from all of Japan, giving it the necessary energy to pierce the angel's A.T. field," she in her usual montone.

Shinji stared at the girl next to, stunned by the plan she had just told him. "She's crazy, right? Either that or she's drunk, this plan is insane," Shinji muttered.

"I do not believe that Major Katsuragi is insane, or under the influence of alcohol. If you do not wish to pilot, I am more than capable," Rei said superiorly.

At that, Shinji turned and slipped his feet off the right side of the bed, closing his eyes against the pain. "Don't worry about me, Ayanami, I'll pilot. If I don't, well, I don't want to think about what that man would do," he growled. As he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with his constant companion, Mr. Teeth.

Seeing his excited expression, Rei spoke. "Major Katsuragi had them deliver that with the rest of your clothes, she instructed them to place it next to you," she explained.

"He's not an 'it', Ayanami. He has a name, and he's my closest friend," Shinji replied absently. Ignoring his own nakedness, Shinji stood up and lifted the stuffed dinosaur from the atop the heart monitor. Holding it up above him, he looked up and asked it, "Did you miss me, Mr. Teeth?"

Smiling brightly, Shinji replied to an unvocalized question from the toy. "I missed you too. Come on, let's get ready for some payback."

He carried Mr. Teeth across the room and placed him gingerly on the floor next to the chair with his clothes. He quickly dressed himself, forgoing his only sock. He picked the dinosaur up off of the floor and slipped the sock over his tail. "You keep that warm for me," he said.

Rei watched this interaction in silence, wondering if perhaps Shinji could in fact communicate with the seemingly inanimate object, or if he himself was crazy. Pushing the irrelevant query out of her mind, Rei silently slipped out of the room to prepare for the impending mission.

* * *

The time was 1120 hours, and Shinji and Rei were dressed in their plugsuits, ready for the operation to commence. Shinji had handed Mr. Teeth off to Misato when she came to pick them up, who in turn passed him off to Maya. Maya blushed as her fellow tech's teased her about the toy and questioned her about it's origins. To her credit, Maya remained composed enough to deflect their questions and remain focused on the task at hand.

As the clock ticked by slowly towards the appointed hour, Shinji turned to Rei and asked her, "Why do you pilot the Eva?"

"Because it is my bond with humanity. From the cockpit I can feel connected to everyone else in the world, I can feel as if I'm not alone. That is why I pilot, I have nothing else. Why do you pilot?"

"I pilot because I have someone I want to protect. If I don't pilot the Eva, he'll make her do it instead, and I can't let that happen. My life isn't as important as hers is," he replied.

"Your life is important as well, without it, you cannot protect this person. Do not worry, because I will protect you as well," she told him quietly.

They said no more after that. A few minutes later a Section 2 agent arrived to escort them to their Eva's. Rei rose and turned to Shinji. "Goodbye," was all she said before departing. Shinji remained seated for a moment, wondering why she would say something like that. Shrugging it off, he followed the man in black to his Eva, and waited.

* * *

The battle happened in blur. Shinji's first shot warped off target as Ramiel fired it's own beam back towards him. Thankfully the angel's first shot warped as well, but Ramiel was quickly preparing to strike again. There was not enough time for Shinji to prepare for a second shot before Ramiel retaliated, and he knew he could not move. Ramiel struck and Shinji braced himself for the worst. It did not come. Looking up, he could see Unit 00 standing before him, holding a massive shield up between him and Ramiel.

Continuing with the recharge of the positron rifle, Shinji lined up his second shot. Ramiel's beam dissipated after it had torn through the shield and forced Rei to eject. Taking advantage of this lull, Shinji fired. The beam hit it's mark directly, causing the angel's core to explode violently. Ramiel's drill, which had pierced all the way to the Geofront, collapsed, and the flying octahedron crashed down onto the streets of Tokyo-3, defeated.

* * *

Shinji found himself running towards the ejected plug from Unit 00. He couldn't remember leaving Unit 01, but that didn't matter. Rei had saved his life, and he'd be damned if he didn't make sure she was okay. He couldn't let her last words to him be that sad goodbye. Reaching the entry plug, he grasped the emergency release handles and began to turn them. Ignoring the burning pain, he wrenched the plug open and shouted inside, "REI! Rei, are you alright?"

* * *

Rei Ayanami opened her piercing red eyes to see a worried Shinji Ikari standing before her. _Why does he look so concerned_, she thought. When he saw that her eyes were open, he relaxed. "Don't say that again, don't say goodbye like that," he told her. "It's not the end, we'll see each other again. And don't say that you have nothing else, you've got me don't you? I'm your friend Rei, whether you like it or not."

Rei was perplexed by his words. _Friend? Ikari is my friend?_ Forcing those thoughts to the back of her mind for now, she looked up at him and said, "I don't know what to feel at times like this."

"Well, we're both still alive, and we've won...so why not try smiling?" he asked.

Deciding his idea was sound, Rei smiled softly at her new friend. Shinji smiled back at her, glad that she was still alright. He promised himself then, that he would always have Rei's back, because he knew that she would have his.

* * *

AN: Wow, another new chapter already? Don't get used to it though, I'm back to work on Monday and my progress will slow to a halt again, sorry about that. Anyway, I'm toying around with a new chapter structure and I'm hoping it might make things flow a little smoother. Now, since I know that someone will ask this, the reason I cut the part with Shinji falling on Rei is because I don't want any sexual or romantic tension between them. They are just going to be friends, nothing more. Also, just a heads up, I'm cutting Jet Alone, simply because it was like the most boring episode ever. We all know how it goes, and there is absolutely no way that it could have any effect on Shinji's relationship with Mari. That being said, next chapter will find the arrival of everyone's favorite German, and the beginning of a ...well, I'm not sure what it'll be yet, but it's going to be fun. So, please remember to review and let me know what you think of the new chapter structure.


	5. Chapter 5 The Red Menace

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Evangelion...and I still don't own a Mari figure dammit!

AN: I would like to apologize for the extreme delay in the release of this chapter. To make up for it's delay, I made it extra long just for you. Please enjoy.

* * *

Over-the-Rainbow

U.N. Pacific Fleet, Pacific Ocean

As Shinji stepped off of the helicopter, he rubbed his sore neck and looked over at Misato who seemed to be enjoying herself thoroughly. Walking over to her, he leaned in close and asked, "So, why are we here? And don't tell me 'It's a date'."

Misato sighed. "Alright, we're here on official duty, but I want to keep that a secret," she responded.

Shinji nodded. "That sounds reasonable. One more question, why did we bring them?" he asked, jerking thumb over his shoulder at Touji and Kensuke, who had just stepped off of the helicopter.

"Easy, more civilians, less suspicion," she said with a bright smile.

Shinji shook his head as the two boys came over. Before Shinji could say anything else, Touji came over and wedged himself between Misato and her charge. "Thanks a lot Ms. Misato for bring us here today," the boy said with a slightly lecherous smile.

Just then, a large gust of wind blew Touji's new red hat off of his head and across the ship's deck. The jock quickly ran after the hat, trying desperately to catch it before it blew off the ship completely. The hat came to a stop on the deck and Touji dove for it. Just before he reached it however, a slipper-clad foot stomped down on it first. The jock grabbed his hat and started tugging on it, trying to free it from under the new arrival.

Hearing Touji's struggles, Shinji turned towards him to see a pretty red-head about his age in a yellow sundress standing there. She had a cocky smirk plastered on her face and her arms were folded across her chest. When her gaze fell on Shinji, her smirk faltered for a moment, before coming back stronger than before. The redhead remained oblivious to Touji as he tried to free his hat from beneath her foot, that is until a gust of wind blew her dress up, flashing Shinji and the others. Mortified, the redhead quickly slapped Touji and Kensuke. When it came to Shinji's turn, she hesitated for a moment before slapping him as well.

Rubbing his cheek, Touji grips his hat tightly and growls out at the girl, "What the hell was that for, Red?"

The girl turned her attention to Touji and looked down her nose at him. "That was the viewing fee," she said haughtily, with a slight accent that Shinji couldn't place.

"Oh yeah," Touji yelled, grabbing the waistband of his pants. Before he could moon the redhead however, Misato placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shoved him towards Kensuke and Shinji. The boys barely managed to catch their friend as Misato went to stand beside the redhead. Placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, Misato introduced her. "Everyone, this Asuka Langely Sohryu. She's the pilot Eva Unit-02."

"So Misato, which one of these perverts is the Third Child," Asuka asked rudely.

Misato pointed to Shinji and said, "Right here, Shinji Ikari."

Asuka took a step towards the stunned Shinji and looked him over. He was dressed in the black button down that Maya had picked out for him, and he had rolled the sleeves up to just before his elbows. He had loosely tucked the shirt into his black slacks and left the top two buttons undone, revealing the white t-shirt underneath. Unnerved by her pointed stare, Shinji decided to take the initiative and extend his hand to introduce himself. "Hello there, I'm Shinji Ikari. It's nice to meet you," he said with shaky smile.

Asuka just continued to stare at him. A moment later, she spoke. "Dull," was all she said. With that, she turned on her heel and walked back over to Misato. The group started to move on towards the bridge of the ship, leaving Shinji behind, hand still extended in greeting.

A few minutes later, the group of five were standing on the bridge listening to Misato argue with the Captain about who had authority over the Eva and it's possible deployment. As the two argued, neither noticed a man with a thin layer of stubble enter the bridge. Shinji studied the new arrival for a moment before the Captain caught a glimpse of him over Misato's shoulder. "Mr. Kaji, please refrain from inviting yourself onto my bridge in the future," he said irritably.

At that comment, Misato spun around quickly and glared pointedly at the new arrival. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Why, I'm escorting Asuka from Germany of course," he said with a smile. Turning his attention to Shinji and the other boys, he introduced himself. "I'm Ryouji Kaji, it's nice to meet you, Shinji Ikari."

Shinji's eyes widened briefly at this and he asked, "How did you know who I was?"

"Easy," Kaji said. "You're famous. Well, I think we've bothered the Captain enough, what do you say we get out of here?"

The group of now six crammed themselves into the small elevator and made their way down towards the ship's mess hall. After a couple invasions of personal space, the group exited the elevator and sat down. Kaji immediately turned his attention to the Third Child and asked, "So, is Misato still wild in bed?"

The reactions of the little group were mixed. Touji and Kensuke were a mix between shocked and jealous. Asuka had a scandalized look on her face with a slight blush. Misato was furious, hands tightly gripping the table to keep from strangling the man. Shinji, however, just smiled. "Yeah," he said with a smirk. "I heard a loud crash the other night. I think she rolled into her dresser."

Kaji looked at Shinji seriously for a moment before laughing boisterously. "You know, I did not expect that from you. They said you'd be more timid."

"Having one friend with me all the time helps me stay a little more upbeat," Shinji said dismissively.

Kaji turned his conversation from that point to Misato alone. Shinji tuned out the conversation between the two adults and relaxed against the table. A flash of red by the door caught his eye. Focusing, he noticed Asuka motioning for him to follow her. Getting up quietly, Shinji slipped out of the mess hall and followed the German girl through the halls of the ship. The pair made their way to deck and onto a motorboat moored to the ship. They quickly made their way over the transport ship and Asuka motioned for Shinji to stop. She climbed up onto a wall and loosed two of the ropes holding down a massive tarp. Returning her attention to Shinji, she looked down at him and smirked. "Unit-00 and Unit-01 are the prototype and test-type, respectively. But they're nothing compared to Unit-02. My Unit-02 is the first production model, the world's first true Evangelion."

As she finished, a gust of wind whipped around the tarp, lifting it enough to reveal the bright red behemoth hidden beneath it. Just then, the warning klaxons sounded, signifying an angel attack. Shinji's gaze darted around nervously, while Asuka's face widened into a bright smile. Jumping down from her perch, she grabbed Shinji's arm and started dragging him towards the stairs down into the ship. As they reached the locker room a flight down, she darted in and grabbed a plugsuit for the Third Child. Throwing it at him, the loud redhead ordered him to put it on. Sighing, he stripped out of his clothes and thought, _I'm glad I didn't wear the teal shirt today, and I hope I don't lose another sock_. After folding his clothes neatly by the door to the locker room, Shinji vacuum-sealed the plugsuit. Looking down, he realized that the suit was specifically designed for a female form. Blushing slightly, he thought, _Why do I have to wear this? I mean, if it was Mari's spare I wouldn't mind...wait, why __doesn't that thought bother me like this does?_

Shaking his head, Shinji waited for Asuka to emerge. A minute later she was out and racing off towards the entry plug of Unit-02, leaving Shinji to plod along in her wake. The pair quickly hopped into the plug and ran the startup sequence. Shinji watched as Asuka set the interface language to German and thought, _Uh-oh, this won't end well_.

As Asuka grabbed the control yokes, she was stunned when the Eva didn't respond. Suddenly remembering her "guest", she turned to Shinji and shouted, "Think in German, idiot!"

"Uh...uh..." Shinji mumbled.

"Oh, never mind," Asuka grumbled. "Change interface language to Japanese."

After giving it a moment to reset, Asuka grabbed the controls again and the Eva finally responded. Grabbing the tarp, Asuka wrapped it around the bright red Eva. Standing up, she launched off the deck of the ship and began making her way towards the Over-the-Rainbow. Shinji could hear Misato telling Asuka where the umbilical cable was and he watched as they almost played hopscotch with the U.N. Pacific fleet. Reaching the Over-the-Rainbow, Unit-02 attached the umbilical and drew it's Prog Knife. As Unit-02 gazed over the side of the ship for the angel, something struck the opposite side, sending the Eva into the water.

The good news was that Unit-02 could now face the sixth angel directly. The bad news was that Unit-02 wasn't equipped for aquatic combat. Unfortunately, before the two pilots could ready themselves, the sixth angel, Gaghiel, struck. The massive angel opened it's jaws and swallowed the bright red Eva. Diving down, Gaghiel dragged Unit-02 further beneath the surface. Inside the rapidly descending Eva, the two children were panicking.

"Arrgh, come on, move dammit," Asuka was shouting. _No, I can't lose, not to this thing, and not in front of _him_,_ she thought. _There has to be something I can do, I've got to figure this out._

Shinji stood silently behind Asuka. _This isn't good, we've got to get out of here, I still have to find Mari,_ he thought. He quickly cast his gaze across the console and then examined the inside of the angel's mouth. Directly in front of them was Gaghiel's core. The glowing red orb hung just barely out of reach, mocking them. Deciding that they had nothing to lose by trying, Shinji grabbed Asuka's shoulder to gain her attention.

"Asuka, do you still have the Prog Knife?" he asked urgently.

"Of course I do, idiot. But how does that help us?" she snapped.

"If we drive it into the core and kill it while we're still inside it's mouth it could end badly. But if we just drive it in and open it's mouth, we can be reeled in by the umbilical and that'll give the fleet on opening to shoot at," Shinji explained.

"Okay, that helps us get out, but the ships guns won't be able to kill it," Asuka shouted back at him.

"Ordinarily you'd be right, but with the Prog Knife embedded in the core it gives them an opening into the core itself. Sure you'll lose your knife, but at least we won't lose our lives," he told her.

"Alright, let's try it," Asuka agreed.

Leaning in towards the console's speakers, Shinji asked, "Did you get all that, Misato?"

"You bet Shinji, I'll leave it to you two," the pair could hear throughout the plug.

With Misato's approval, the pair got ready to go. Shinji watched as Asuka dove deeper into Gaghiel's mouth and stabbed the blade into the heart of the angel. Kicking off of the vibrating blade, Unit-02 positioned itself at the front of Gaghiel's mouth. Bracing against the upper and lower jaws, Asuka put all her effort into opening the mouth of her captor. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she pushed, Gaghiel's mouth wouldn't budge. Just as Asuka was about to give up, she felt Shinji place his hands on the control yokes over hers. She flashed a surprised and angry gaze at Shinji, but the boy brushed it off. "It'll be easier if we work together," he said confidently. Asuka nodded and the pair started pushing again. Slowly, but surely, Gaghiel's jaws were forced open as Unit-02 stood up.

As soon as Unit-02 was fully erect, Shinji shouted, "Now Misato, reel us in!"

Right after that, Asuka and Shinji felt a tug and they flew backwards out of Gaghiel's mouth. As soon as Unit-02 was free, Gaghiel's mouth snapped shut and it took off after them. Unit-02 quickly broke the surface of the water and landed heavily on the Over-the-Rainbow's main deck. A second later, Gaghiel emerged from sea, jaws wide, ready to reclaim its lost prey. Asuka's eyes widened as Gaghiel approached, but Shinji remained calm. His faith was quickly rewarded as a barrage from the ship's guns fired deep into Gaghiel's mouth. The heavy shells impacted the core and the protruding Prog Knife. The resulting attack shattered the angel's core, causing it to sink heavily back to the depth of the ocean. The U.N. sailors let out a loud victory cheer. Sighing, Shinji sank back in the plug and smiled. "Good job Asuka," the Third Child said with a smile.

"Well of course, I'm the best pilot," Asuka replied haughtily.

Shaking his head, Shinji leaned backwards and thought, _I did it, I survived. I promised you Mari, I'd return him to you, and I can't die until I do. Hopefully when all these Angels are gone, you and I can see each other again._

* * *

"No, I don't want to go, I'll just stay in here until the ship docks," Shinji shouted from inside Unit-02's entry plug. After Asuka had deactivated Unit-02, the rest of the group had made their way onto the deck. Now, Misato wondered why Shinji was so adamant about staying inside the plug, rather than seeing his friends. A minute later, her questions were answered as Asuka shoved the unsuspecting boy forcefully out of the plug. When Misato realized just what it was that he was wearing, she did everything she could to hide her laughter.

Touji and Kensuke, however, were a different story. The two boys made no attempt to hide their amusement at Shinji's current attire, laughing hysterically at the form-fitting, feminine plugsuit he was wearing. Growling angrily at his friends, Shinji decided that he'd had enough. Depressurizing the suit, Shinji slid it down around his waist and tied the arms together to act like a belt. He was so caught up in his own irritation that he didn't hear the gasps when he passed Touji and Kensuke. He continued to stalk off as Touji asked, "Damn, what happened to his back?"

"It was an accident when he was a kid," Misato explained. "Shards of superheated glass rained down on him, but he didn't move."

"Why the hell wouldn't he move?" Touji wondered.

"He was protecting someone else, his first and only friend at the time," Misato said.

Touji nodded. "Well, I knew he was tough, but I didn't know he was that tough," the jock said.

"Ha, Shinji, tough? I doubt that," said a voice from behind them.

The group turned around to see that Asuka had finally emerged from the entry plug. Touji glared at the redhead, angry that she could still be so rude to his friend even after he saved her life. Deciding it was time someone got back at the obnoxious girl, he shouted, "Hey, Red! Here's what I think of your attitude!"

With that, Touji turned around and "dropped trou" in front of the fiery german. Asuka stood there in shock for a moment, staring at Touji, before she stormed over and delivered a punishing kick to the jock's rear end. Huffing angrily, Asuka stormed off towards the ship's locker room to change. She was a few feet from the door when she turned to look at Misato and asked, "Did Kaji see my victory over the angel?"

Seeing the eager expression on the young girl's face made Misato sick. "No," she said venomously. "That bastard took off as soon as the angel showed up."

Asuka's face dropped and she made her way inside the ship, a little slower than before. Misato watched her go, feeling a little tinge of sadness as she did. _It's better this way, Asuka. As soon as you realize what kind of person he is, the sooner you can find the man who's right for you._

Stretching, she watched as Kensuke dragged the hapless jock to his feet. While she was watching the two boys, a crewman from the transport ship approached her. Smiling at him, she asked, "What can I help you with?"

"Well, we collected the clothes from the pilots and brought them over, but it appears that the boy is missing a sock," the sailor told her.

Taking the pile of clothes from the crewman, she thanked him and flipped through the pile. Sure enough, Shinji was missing a sock. _That tends to happen a lot_, she thought. Shrugging, she passed Shinji's clothes to the two boys and told them to deliver the bundle to Shinji. The boys accepted and ran off to find their friend. Sighing, Misato went off on her own to find Asuka. She silently prayed that the girl would be in a better mood.

* * *

The next day found Shinji and his friends relaxing in the classroom. After the excitement of yesterday, Shinji was glad that Asuka was gone. He had no problem with the redhead, but she seemed to take offense at his very existence. _Well, at least I'll never have to see her again. I don't need her to be my friend anyway, I've got you and Mari, right buddy?_ he thought to himself, patting his bag as he did so. His thoughts, however, quickly turned from the friend hidden in his bag to the friend he had not seen in years. His distraction did not go unnoticed by his friends, and Shinji didn't see Touji's headlock coming until it was too late.

"Gah, what's going on?" Shinji choked out.

"I said, aren't you glad Red's gone?" Touji repeated.

"Oh, I guess," Shinji replied dismissively.

"You guess? Come on, she was bit-" Shinji cut him off before he could finish.

"You might want to watch your language, Touji. You don't want the Class Rep scolding you again." Touji grumbled. "Anyway, sure she was...'forceful', but it didn't really bother me. I'm used to people like that."

"Well, I'm glad she's not gonna be here. Sucks for you though," Touji said, dropping back into his chair.

As Touji settled in, the Class Rep, Hikari Horaki, stood in front of the students to begin class. After running through her usual routine, she paused for a moment before continuing. "Also, today we have a new student joining us. Please welcome her," Hikari said cheerily.

Touji and Kensuke froze. Sitting up, Shinji could hear Touji mumbling, "No, please no. Not her."

His prayers went unanswered as the classroom door slid open to reveal the redheaded terror from the day before. Touji smacked his head down on his desk as she introduced herself. "Hello there, I'm Asuka Langely Sohryu. Nice to meet you."

* * *

The following week had been hell for Shinji. Asuka had moved into the already cramped apartment with him and Misato. On top of that, she had tried to oust Shinji from the apartment. It had taken a stern lecture from Misato, but Asuka had removed her massive amount of belongings from Shinji's room. The invasion of his room hadn't bothered him too much, though he was very glad that Mr. Teeth was with him at the time. Shinji couldn't bear to think of what Asuka would have done to Mr. Teeth if she had found him. Shaking his head clear of negative thoughts, Shinji took a deep breath of the morning air and sighed contentedly. Here he was, taking a leisurly walk to school with his closest friend, and no Asuka to yell at him.

His serenity was short lived though, because as he approached the school he could see Touji and Kensuke selling what looked like photographs. As he got closer, he could see that each photo depicted candid shots a red haired girl. Sighing, this time sadly, he walked up to the two boys and said, "You do know that she's going to kill you for this, right?"

"Relax Shin-man, we'll clear out before she even gets here," Touji assured him.

"Well then, you better clear out now, because she's right behind me." Touji paled at that. He and Kensuke frantically packed up their makeshift stand and ducked out of sight into the bushes. A few moments later, Asuka came into view and walked up to Shinji. Not bothering with a polite greeting, she simply demanded, "So, where's the First?"

Rolling his eyes at Asuka's lack of manners, Shinji quickly pointed towards a table about twenty yards away where the blue haired girl was currently reading. Shinji followed along silently as Asuka approached Rei. He watched as the redhead marched up to Rei cast a shadow over the girl's book. Asuka waited a moment for Rei to look up before speaking. "Hi there! So you're the First?" she asked with a blatantly fake smile.

To her credit, Rei's expression never wavered. The stoic Eva pilot kept her emotionless red eyes on the new interloper before her. Asuka's smile flickered for a moment before she continued, irritation seeping into her voice. "It's nice to meet you. Let's be friends," she said, thrusting a hand to Rei.

Shinji had to stifle a laugh at what happened next. Rei rose and stared blankly at Asuka. "No thank you," she said flatly. "I do not see the purpose in having more than one 'friend'."

Rei turned away from Asuka, leaving the german girl fuming. As she walked past Shinji she gave him a quick glance and an almost imperceptable nod. Nodding back at her, Shinji watched as she strode fluidly towards the school building. _Even I have to admit, that girl is strange_, he thought to himself. _I just hope Mari isn't like that. Rei is nice, but it hurts to think of Mari being so...cold. She was so lively when we were little, I'd hate to see that disappear._

"What's her problem? And what's this about not needing more than one friend? Like she even has any." Asuka's angry rant snapped Shinji out of his thoughts of his oldest friend. Shaking his head, he turned to Asuka and said, "You shouldn't talk about her like that. Rei's not a bad person, she's just...different."

"Bah, like that's any excuse, and it's certainly not an excuse to lie about having friends," Asuka growled.

"Rei's not lying. She has a friend...me." With that, Shinji adjusted the bag on his shoulder and headed off for class.

* * *

The three pilots rushed into the briefing room to find Misato already waiting for them. Taking the initiative, Asuka stepped forward and asked, "So, where is this new angel?"

"The Seventh Angel has been spotted off of the Kii peninsula. Units 01 and 02 will deploy," Misato replied. Turning attention to the young man standing behind the two girls, she said, "Shinji, you'll take point on this one."

"WHAT?" Asuka shouted. "You're letting this...BAKA take point? Misato, I'm the better pilot, it should be me in front."

"Asuka, while your sync-ratio is higher than Shinji's, he has more actual combat experience," Misato explained. "So, Shinji will take point. No more discussions, it's time to suit up and move out."

* * *

Eva Units 01 and 02 air-dropped onto the Kii peninsula, almost 500km south-west of Tokyo-3. The two units landed armed and ready, Unit-01 equipped with the standard pallet rifle, while Unit-02 was carrying a sonic glaive. The two Eva's got into position and waited for the Angel to arrive. A minute later, the Seventh Angel, Israfel, came into view. Shinji raised his rifle and locked on to Israfel, but before he could fire Unit-02 charged past him, glaive raised.

"Dammit Asuka, Shinji cover her and make sure she doesn't get killed," Misato ordered angrily.

"Roger that," Shinji replied tiredly. _Why is she so eager to fight? Well, if I can't stop her, I guess I'll just watch her back_, he thought.

Dropping behind cover, Shinji readied his rifle and waited. Asuka continued to barrel forward towards Israfel, letting loose a bestial snarl as she did so. The ground between her and Israfel shrank as she prepared to strike. Skidding to a stop in front of her enemy, Asuka's glaive came down hard on the top of the Angel's head. Shinji watched, fascinated, as Israfel seemed to effortlessly split in half. The two halves dropped to the ground and laid there motionless. With a twirl of the glaive, Asuka spun to face her comrade.

"Ha, what do you think of that Third Child? Who's the better pilot now?" she asked haughtily.

Shinji sighed at Asuka's comment and thought, _I don't care about "Who's better", all I care about is protecting Mari._ Shinji shook his head and went to tell Asuka his thoughts. Before he could say anything though, something caught his eye. Acting on instinct, he shouted, "ASUKA! MOVE!"

Startled by his shouting, Asuka turned around to see what had Shinji so worried. She was in mid-turn as she felt something heavy strike the chest of Unit-02, sending her flying towards one of the ruined buildings in the area. Asuka landed heavily on the building, blacking out.

* * *

The Bridge techs gasped in shock as they saw Unit-02 collide with the ruined structure. The three techs froze momentarily before Misato's voice cut through the tense atmosphere. "What's the status of Unit-02?" she demanded.

"Unit-02 has suffered minimum cosmetic damage, Ma'am," Shigeru Aoba replied. "Unfortunately, the crash has knocked out the neural connection to the pilot, Unit-02 is out of commission," came the voice of Makoto Hyuga.

"Is there anything we can do to get Unit-02 back online?" Misato asked.

"No Ma'am, not at this time," Aoba told her.

"Damn," Misato swore. "Patch me through to Unit-01."

A moment later, Misato was connected. "Shinji, what's the status of the enemy?"

There was a pause. "The status?" Shinji asked incredulously. "The status is there's now two of them!"

"What?" Misato shouted. She turned to Maya and ordered, "Get me a better visual."

Maya altered the view of the battlefield to reveal two copies of the Seventh Angel. Misato swallowed hard before addressing the pilot of Unit-01. "Shinji, is there anything you can do out there?"

"I don't know, Misato. The pallet rifle is useless, and I can't get to Asuka's sonic glaive," Shinji replied, stress evident in his voice.

"What about the Progressive Knife?" she asked.

"I'd have to turn my back on one of them, and that's a bad idea," Shinji replied.

Before Misato could continue, Maya's voice sounded. "Ma'am! The JSSDF is deploying!"

"What? What are they planning?"

"They're...They're dropping and N2 mine!" Maya shouted. "Shinji, get out of there!"

"I'm on it," Shinji replied. "Wait, why isn't Asuka moving?"

"Unit-02 is immobile. It's not going anywhere," Maya told him.

"Alright, I'm on it."

The Bridge crew watched as Unit-01 dashed over to the prone Unit-02. Positioning himself between the Seventh Angel and his stunned comrade, Shinji raised his A.T. field to it's maximum level. Misato and the tech's watched in horror as the N2 mine dropped down on the Kii peninsula, engulfing the Seventh Angel and the two Eva's. As the flash faded and the dust settled, Misato could make out two objects through the smoky aftermath. She breathed a sigh of relief when she could see an unharmed Unit-01 kneeling in front of Unit-02. Satisfied that the two pilots were safe, she turned her attention to the Angel. The smoke finally cleared and Misato could see the twisted, but still living, remains of the Seventh Angel.

Collecting herself, Misato issued orders to the bridge staff to collect the pilots. Exiting the bridge, she leaned heavily against the wall and sighed. "How can we beat this Angel?"

"I may have an idea," came a voice from her right. Snapping her head around to view this new interloper, Misato frowned. She was about to yell at the man next to her, but a thought sprang to mind. _Wait, at least hear him out, who knows, it might just work._ Swallowing her pride, she turned to face the man and said, "What did you have in mind...Kaji."

* * *

AN2: And I guess I'll leave you here...no, I'm just kidding. Given the length of this chapter, I thought I'd give you all a little intermission. You know, I chance to get a drink, snack, or even to just use the "facilities". Anyway, I think I'll take this moment to add in the Omake written by Cyber-Undead. It's a humorous take on Shinji's attempt to deliver lunch to Rei. Thanks for writing this Cyber-Undead, and I hope the you all enjoy it.

OMAKE

Two days later, Shinji really wanted to make his move, but the whole "holier-than-thou" vibe emanating from Ayanami could pull off anybody, so he decided to consult his most trusty, loyal companion, Mr. Teeth. Of course, since he was in class, Shinji also decided that some manner of subtlety was required.

Crouching beneath the desk, holding the green plastic figurine in front of his face, the young boy asked

"Mr. Teeth, do you think now is a good time to give her the bento?", moving it close to his ear, Shinji was motionless for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, I agree with you, but I'm scared. What if she rejects it?" - nodding again, the young boy persisted in exposing his doubts - "Of course, but I don't really know her. I mean, I know she doesn't like meat, but the way I treated her before..."

Now with moist eyes, Shinji was hanging on to every word pronounced from his most wise and confident friend. Nodding repeatedly, the troubled pilot ended up gushing over the old doll, nearly crushing it against his heart (in more ways than just the physical one).

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Teeth! You're my most valuable friend, I really don't know what would I do without you!" Giving it a kiss on the top of its head, Shinji sighed, relieved to have someone who could comfort and advise him with such dilemmas. That was when he noticed that every student in class, and even the old teacher, were staring at him absolutely flabbergasted. Terribly blushing, the pilot wasn't sure what to do, although with a unique lucidity he realized that this time consulting his best friend might not really be the best decision.

THE END

Well, I sincerely hope you all enjoyed that, and we will now return to our regularly scheduled program.

* * *

Still in his plugsuit, Shinji decided to head out to meet Misato for the mission briefing. Rubbing the tension out of his shoulder, he was caught off guard by Asuka and Rei's arrival. Greeting Rei warmly, he turned to Asuka to ask her how she was feeling. CRACK! Shinji hit the ground hard, rubbing his jaw. Rei, who showed no emotion at the unwarranted attack, stepped forward to assist her fellow pilot. Flexing his jaw to make sure it wasn't broken, he glared at Asuka and demanded, "What is your problem?"

"YOU BAKA! If you weren't such a loser this wouldn't have happened. You screwed up my debut fight, SO TAKE THIS!" she shouted at Shinji, taking another swing at his jaw.

Before her fist collided with his jaw, however, it was stopped by Rei. Staring at the angry redhead, Rei spoke in her same calm monotone, "Do not blame Ikari for your failure. If you had followed Major Katsuragi's plan from the start, this situation may not have happened."

"Shut up Wonder-girl! Don't blame me cause this baka can't do anything right! I had it all under control!"

"At which point were you in control? When you were flying through the air, or immobile on the ground?" Rei deadpanned.

Asuka was fuming at Rei's inadvertent joke. Letting lose an angry roar, Asuka cocked her fist back and let it fly at Rei. Both women were shocked when Shinji threw himself in the path of the German's fist. Staggering back against Rei, Shinji took a minute to catch his breath when Misato's voice sounded. "What the hell are you doing, Asuka?" the purple haired woman demanded. "Forget it, I don't want to hear it. That's not why I called you here anyway."

"Why did you call us here, Misato?" Shinji asked, still rubbing his sore jaw.

"I called you three here to outline the new plan of attack. The N2 mine did enough damage to stall the Angel's advance for seven days, so we have one week to prepare our counterattack," Misato explained.

"What's the plan, Misato," Asuka demanded haughtily.

Taking a moment to shoot the German girl dark look, Misato outlined her plan. "Two Eva's will engage in a synchronized assault against the Seventh Angel. We'll take this week to get the two pilots in perfect sync. That mean's eating together, working together, even sleeping together."

"No!" Asuka shouted. "No way am I going to spend all of my time with that pervert."

"Don't worry Asuka," Misato told her. "You won't have to spend anytime with Shinji."

"Ha, Third Child! Look's like you've been replaced for this fight, pervert."

"No, Asuka," came Misato's voice from her side. "You've been replaced."

"WHAT? You can't do that Misato, I'm the better pilot. It should be me!" she shouted.

"By rights it should be you in there Asuka, but after you display here, I've decided it would bring better results to put two more...'compatible' pilots in the field," Misato said. _Plus, this might help Shinji with his little crush on Rei_, the older woman thought to herself.

"Anyway," Misato continued. "Rei, for the next week you will be staying with us. You and Shinji have a lot of work to do."

"I understand, Major Katsuragi," came Rei's monotone.

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" Asuka shouted. Furious at being sabotaged(in her mind) by Shinji, and now being replaced by Rei, the German had decided that she'd had enough. Storming off, the three remaining members of the briefing listened fearfully to the dark mutterings of the Second Child. Shaking his head, Shinji worked a knot out of his shoulder and turned to Rei. "Do you need any help getting the essentials from your apartment?" he asked politely.

"Your assistance is unnecessary, Ikari. I am more than capable of gathering my possessions on my own."

"Now Rei, Shinji's just trying to be helpful. You two are going to be spending an entire week together, I think he just wants you to get used to being around him," Misato offered.

"I see," Rei said quietly. Turning to Shinji she said, "Ikari, will you please help me gather my things?"

"Of course Rei," Shinji said with a smile. "What are friends for?"

"I am unsure of what friends are for," Rei said with a blank expression.

Misato and Shinji stared back at Rei, both wondering the same thing, _does this girl know nothing about friends?_

"Um...let's just head over to your apartment," Shinji said. With that, the two pilots left the briefing room. Misato leaned back against the wall and sighed heavily. _I certainly hope this works, and maybe this little "experiment" will help those two kids get together. Now all I have to do is keep Asuka from killing them. Well, I guess it could be worse._

* * *

5 Days Later

It had been almost a whole week since Touji and Kensuke had seen their friend. Carrying the multitude of printouts given to them by the Class Rep, the two boys made their to the Katsuragi/Ikari home. "So, what do you think Shin-man has been up to?" Touji asked Kensuke as they walked along.

"It's probably something to do with Nerv," the glasses wearing boy replied eagerly.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Didn't you notice? Ayanami has been out as long as Shinji has," Kensuke told the jock.

"Huh, I never noticed. Well, it doesn't matter much to me where she's been, let's just get Shin-man these printouts. Maybe he can take a break and come hang out with us," Touji replied.

As the pair of friends reached the right floor, they were surprised to see the Class Rep standing in front of the door. Walking up to Hikari, Touji asked, "Hey Class Rep! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, it's you two," she said. "I'm here to deliver Rei's printouts."

"Here? But this is Shinji's place," the jock replied, scratching his head in confusion.

"Really? That's strange, Rei informed me that she would be staying her for the week, she never said that she'd be staying with Shinji. Oh no! What could they be doing, two teenagers all alone in an apartment," Hikari fretted.

"Relax Rep, Shin-man's guardian's probably still here," Touji assured her. "Let's just ring the bell."

After ringing the bell, the trio of students took a step back and waited. A moment later they were gratified to hear the click of the door lock and tell-tale sound of a door opening. What greeted the visitors was startling. Shinji and Rei were standing before them in the entryway. They were wearing matching outfits and both had the same blank expression on their faces. "Hello there, please come in," they greeted simultaneously.

Hikari's professional smile wavered slightly at the greeting, while Touji and Kensuke took a step back. "Thank you very much. I apologize for intruding," Hikari replied as she entered. As soon as Hikari passed, Shinji and Rei returned their attention to the two boys still frozen in shock. "Please come in," the repeated, more firmly this time. The blank expressions transformed into something more intimidating as the Shinji and Rei stared down Touji and Kensuke. The two boys swallowed heavily and slowly inched their way past the two pilots mumbling, "Pardon the intrusion."

Shinji and Rei smiled brightly and closed the door, wondering what brought their guests to visit them.

* * *

As soon as their guest were settled on the apartment's modest couch, Shinji and Rei stood before them and asked in unison, "So, what brings you by to visit us?"

"Okay, you guys do know how creepy that is, right?" Touji asked, shuddering slightly.

"Yes, we're well aware of how 'creepy' it is, courtesy of Asuka," they replied. "That is why we continue to work in unison. It is actually quite fun."

"Well, be that as it may, we came by to deliver your printouts from the past five days," Hikari said seriously. Taking the pages from Kensuke, she held out the two stacks of worksheets to the two pilots. Rei and Shinji each took their pile from the Class Rep and looked them over. Seemingly satisfied with the printouts, the pair placed them on the table and focused their attention once again on their guests. "Thank you for bringing the printouts over. We very much appreciate it," they told their classmates. "Please feel free to help yourself to almost any drinks in the fridge, and please excuse Sohryu for not greeting you. She is deeply irritated by her removal from this operation."

"Heh, so Red got herself cut? Serves her right for acting so superior all the time," Touji scoffed.

"Suzuhara! Be nice to Asuka, it must be hard to be removed from the mission. If you don't mind me asking, why was she removed?" Hikari asked, rising from the couch.

Glancing at each other for a moment, the synchronized pilots nodded. "Sohryu was cut because she attacked us after her failure during the last mission. She blamed her faults on me/Ikari, and decided it made sense to assault us," they explained.

"That's horrible! I can't believe she did that," Hikari exclaimed, grabbing the handle for the small refrigerator.

"Yes it is, but Asuka has a lot of pride," they said, turning to face Hikari again. They suddenly realized what Hikari was reaching for, they shouted, "Wait, not that one!"

"Huh? Why not?" she asked curiously, opening the door.

"WARK!" Hikari jerked back in shock. She fell backwards onto the floor and found herself face to face with a very confused warm water penguin. Hikari was still staring at the penguin when she heard a voice coming from behind her. "That's Penpen," the voice said. "He's our last roommate, that's his room you were looking for drinks in."

"Oh, I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to disturb him, Miss..." Hikari trailed off.

"It's Katsuragi, but please, call me Misato. Here, let me get you a drink," Misato said, leading Hikari over to the main refrigerator. Opening it up, she pulled out a bottle of juice for Hikari and two cans of beer for herself and Penpen. Popping both tops, she passed one of the beers to the penguin and led Hikari back over to the couch. Taking a seat, the two women watched as Shinji and Rei continued to practice their routine flawlessly. Chugging the beer down, Misato sighed heavily and said, "I was worried at first, putting Rei and Shinji together. But I have to say, they work great with each other."

"Well, then it's a good thing that you put them together, isn't it?" Hikari replied.

"Yeah, I guess," Misato said. She then leaned in closer to the younger woman and whispered, "It also helps that Shinji has a little crush on Rei. But don't say anything, he doesn't know that I know."

Hikari gave Misato a surprised look before returning her attention to the two pilots moving in sync on a pair of dance mats. Shaking her head, she watched as the Shinji and Rei finished another round perfectly. The two partners wiped the sweat from their respective brows and smiled lightly at each other. They were about to speak when an angry voice sounded from down the hallway. "CAN YOU KEEP THAT RACKET DOWN? SOME OF US ARE AT LEAST TRYING TO DO SCHOOL WORK!"

The group stiffened sharply as Asuka came storming down the hallway. When she burst into the room, everyone scattered. Touji and Kensuke dove into the kitchen while Hikari picked up Penpen and moved behind the couch. Misato moved to join Hikari, while Shinji and Rei went to head Asuka off. The two pilots stepped in front of the enraged German. Asuka's hateful expression was met by blank expressions by her comrades. Suddenly, Shinji and Rei gave Asuka a playful smirk and said, "Hello Sohryu. How are you this evening?"

"I'm pissed you space cadets, and will you knock that off?"

"We cannot Sohryu, we must remain in perfect unison while working. It also helps that you have made it clear how much this irritates you."

"That's it Wondergirl, I'm gonna knock your teeth out," Asuka growled, cocking her fist back.

"Asuka! That's enough, if you continue to act like this I'll have no choice but to put you in a holding cell," Misato said loudly.

Asuka froze. Her head snapped towards the voice of her current guardian and her eyes darkened. "So, if I don't play by your rules, and leave these idiots alone, you'll get rid of me?" Asuka demanded. "You know what, forget it. You may be my guardian, but the rules say that I don't have to stay here. I'm leaving, you can send me the rest of my things when I get settled."

With that, Asuka stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. The group stood silently for a moment, before Misato sighed and flopped back down on the couch. "I figured it would happen, but I never thought it would be so soon. I'll call for a crew to pack up her things in the morning," the purple haired woman said tiredly. "I think it's time for you three to go home, there's been a little too much excitement here today."

The students nodded and bid their goodbye's to the pilots and Misato. Hikari took an extra moment to bid farewell to the warm water penguin. When the door finally closed, Shinji and Rei appeared before Misato, each with a sheepish look on their face. Before they could say anything, however, Misato cut them off. "Don't worry, it's not your fault. But now we're going to be down a roommate Shinji. It's gonna be quiet around here," she said sadly.

"Major Katsuragi, I believe I may have a solution," Rei said, stepping away from Shinji. "My time here has shown me that my current apartment is not suitable for habitation. Would you consent to my living here full-time, Major?"

"That's a great idea Rei. Why don't you and Shinji head over to your old place and pick up the rest of your stuff?" Misato suggested.

"I understand," Rei replied. Turning to Shinji, she asked, "Ikari, will you assist me in the retrieval of the remainder of my belongings?"

"Certainly Rei, shall we head out now?"

"Yes, let us go," she said.

Misato watched as the pair exited the apartment and then she smiled. Grabbing another beer, she threw herself onto the couch and popped it open. Before she took a drink she caught Penpen's eye and smiled wider. "Well, they're progressing quicker than I expected. Hopefully Shinji will be able to tell her he feels soon."

With that, she chugged down her beer and crushed the can. Dropping the ruined can to the floor, she leaned back and closed her eyes. All the stress from the past week left her body, and she was asleep.

* * *

"Shinji, Rei, are you in position?" Misato asked from the command bridge. She stood tense and ready for the coming battle with the Seventh Angel. Her gaze flickered back and forth between the video feeds of Shinji and Rei.

"Yes, we're ready," the pilots answered in unison.

"Alright! Commence operation!" she shouted. As soon as the words left her mouth, the music started and Units 01 and 00 charged forward to meet Israfel. Shinji and Rei felt themselves slipping into a deep trance, moving flawlessly in time with the music. Moments after the music began, the two pilots met the two halves of Israfel on the Kii Peninsula.

Thrust. Kick. Sweep. Spin. Thrust. Sweep. Spin. Kick. Dodge. The two Eva's quickly forced the two Israfel's apart, driving them back towards the edge of the peninsula. The Eva's moved in a beautiful dance, avoiding all of the Angels attacks, while delivering many of their own. The bridge crew watched, entranced, as Shinji and Rei forced Israfel further and further back. Their flawless dance finally pushed the Angel back to the edge of the peninsula. A backhand from each Unit forced the halves to together, merging them back together into the original Seventh Angel.

As soon as the Angels merged, Shinji and Rei fell back, getting into position for the final strike. The two pilots raced out from the target, before skidding to a halt and spinning back around. As the music approached its climax, the two pilots charged back towards Israfel. They launched themselves into a jump kick towards the Seventh Angel. Shinji and Rei's Eva's collided with Israfel's core from both sides. The force of the impact caused both halves of the core to shatter, destroying Israfel completely.

As they watched the destruction of Israfel, the bridge crew let out a resounding cheer. As the Seventh Angel perished, Misato felt all of the tension leave her shoulders. Sighing happily, she smiled at Maya, who was cheering along with the other bridge techs. Misato called out for recovery teams to pick up the Eva's and return them to the cage. Patting Maya on the shoulder, she smiled brightly at Ritsuko before heading down to the locker room to meet up with Shinji and Rei when they returned. _They did a good job today_, she thought. _Maybe I'll treat them to dinner tonight, we can go somewhere fun._

* * *

After the battle, the victorious pilots were met by Misato and Asuka. "Well done," Misato congratulated them. "I'm treating you two to dinner tonight."

"Thanks Misato/Major Katsuragi," they said in unison.

"Ugh, why are you two space cadets still speaking in unison?" Asuka asked, gagging.

"Sorry Asuka, a little after effect from the battle," Shinji told her.

"Whatever. Hey Misato, why am I here anyway?" Asuka demanded.

"Well, it seems that you can't move out of the apartment, Asuka. Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki has allowed Rei to move into the apartment, but he won't allow you to live on your own. So, we need to figure out living arrangements now," Misato explained.

Asuka was steaming. Shinji could see her hands shaking, as if to hold in the fury boiling up inside of her. He knew exactly what she was thinking, that she would have to share a room with Rei. Deciding it would be best to avoid bloodshed, he was about to offer his room to Rei, when the blue haired girl stepped forward. "Major Katsuragi, I would prefer to continue the living arrangements from the past week, if possible," came the girl's bland monotone.

Shinji's eyes widened slightly and he cast a quick glance at Asuka. The German seemed to have calmed slightly, he hands were no longer clenched, but she was still rigid as a board. Misato stared back at the First Child and sighed. "Well Rei, while that would make things easier, it's not really proper," she said apologetically. Her voice then returned to a cheery tone as she continued, "But I only asked to see what you three would come up with."

"What do you mean, Misato?" Shinji asked.

"Well, as we speak, our apartment is...what's the word...oh, yes, 'commandeering', part of the neighboring apartment," she replied with a smile.

"Commandeering? What are you talking about?" Asuka demanded.

"Well, our small three bedroom apartment is being converted to a large five bedroom. While our neighboring apartment will become a tiny one bedroom," Misato said happily.

"So, we're screwing over whoever's going to move in next store?" Shinji asked.

"Nope, because they won't rent it out to anyone," she replied. "Anyway, now that we're all settled let's go get dinner, my treat!"

Shinji and Rei nodded and started following Misato out of the briefing room. When he reached the door, Shinji turned back to see Asuka still standing in the middle of the room. "Hey Asuka, are you coming?"

Asuka turned and glared at Shinji before huffing angrily and turning her nose up at the Third Child. She quickly stalked out of the room, purposely bumping into Shinji on her way. He sighed heavily and followed her out, hoping that she wouldn't raise a stink about the ramen cart he and Rei were about to lead them to.

* * *

Misato strolled out of her bedroom with a heavy yawn, listening to the heavy rainfall outside. It had been a few weeks since the "remodeling" of the Katsuragi/Ikari/Sohryu/Ayanami apartment, and life had been...stressful. The three pilots always seemed to be at each others throats. Asuka seemed to make it her mission to antagonize Rei, belittling her at every turn. This of course led to Shinji stepping up to support Rei. This of course inflamed Asuka's temper, leading her to become physically violent. This appeared to be the moment where Misato always entered the room.

Tired of always breaking up their fights, Misato laid down the law. After being threatened with their guardian's cooking, the three pilots disagreements seemed to vanish. However, this victory for Misato was short-lived. After her threat, Shinji and Asuka became more withdrawn, spending more and more time in their rooms, only coming out for meals and school. Shinji seemed to fall back into his old habits of talking frequently with Mr. Teeth. Shinji's behavior concerned Misato, but as he had yet to bring Mr. Teeth out in front of Asuka, she let it go.

The purple haired woman slumped down at the kitchen table and sprawled herself across the tabletop. The still half-asleep woman was surprised to find a can of Yebisu already waiting for her. Popping the top and draining the beer, Misato let out a low belch and sighed contentedly. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she was surprised yet again to see who was standing at the stove. Instead of the Third Child standing there, the First Child was. Still stunned into silence, Misato watched as Rei placed a bowl of rice and a bowl of Miso soup in front of her. Mumbling her thanks to the blue haired child, Misato dug into her breakfast. A few minutes later, Misato turned to Rei and asked, "So, where are Shinji and Asuka this morning?"

"Pilot Sohryu is still in her room this morning. It appears that she will not eat any food prepared by me. As for Shinji, he has stepped out to purchase more food," Rei replied.

"Well, that's just how Asuka is," Misato replied dismissively.

"That does not explain her willingness to eat food prepared by Shinji," Rei stated blandly.

"Well, don't tell Asuka I told you this, but she doesn't know how to cook. So for her, it's either Shinji's cooking, or mine."

"I see, I do believe that I would act in the same manner given the choice," the blue haired girl said, placing her and Misato's empty dishes in the sink.

"Well, I should be offended, but I'm not surprised. You know, when Shinji first came here he forced me to buy healthy food and let him cook. I'm let him talk me into it, it turned out great in the end, but when he first brought it up, I thought he was a little crazy," she told the younger girl.

"Why did you think that, Major?"

"You know the stuffed dinosaur he carries everywhere?"

"Yes, I believe he called 'him' Mr. Teeth."

"Yeah, well do you know the significance of that little guy?"

"He had said it once belonged to his closest friend," Rei replied.

"That's right, and he's hung onto him for ten years so he can return him to her. He's really attached Mr. Teeth, so much so that he'll talk to the little lizard. When I first met Shinji he spent a lot of talking Mr. Teeth, he treated the toy like a real person. He's not talking to the lizard as much anymore thankfully, and I think that has to do with you," Misato told Rei.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, since you two started spending more time together, it seems he's branching out. He's more open with others now, and I think that's your influence, Rei."

"Thank you for the compliment Major Katsuragi, but I believe that is more your influence than mine, that has caused him to open up to others," the First Child said, flushing slightly.

"Aww...thanks Rei," Misato said, ruffling Rei's hair. "Well, since it's raining pretty hard out there I think I'll head out now for work. Are you going to be okay until Shinji gets back?"

"I will be fine, have a pleasant day," Rei said, bowing to Misato.

"Alright Rei, I'll see you later," Misato said with a wave. The door closed and Rei finished clearing the table. The blue haired girl made her way to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of Yebisu and opened it. Placing the can next to PenPen's "room", Rei made her way into the living room and scanned the bookshelf for something to read. Pulling a book off of the shelf, Rei sat down to read, waiting for Shinji to return with the groceries.

* * *

Half an hour after Misato's departure, Shinji returned to the apartment, arms ladened with groceries. As he placed the bags on the counter, he smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for closing the door for me, Rei."

"You're welcome, Shinji. I will put the food away, you should rest and dry off," she said.

Rubbing the stiffness out of his shoulder, Shinji stretched and said, "Thanks Rei, I think I'll do that."

Exiting the kitchen, Shinji made his way towards the bathroom. Stripping off his shirt, he dropped it in the clothes hamper and grabbed a towel from the bathroom closet. Drying his hair, Shinji made his way out of the bathroom and down the hall to his bedroom. Sliding the door open, he called out quietly, "I'm back."

He was surprised when a voice responded. "Welcome back," the voice said. Shinji slung the towel across his shoulders and gazed at the source of the voice. Sitting next to the window, was Asuka. "What are you doing in my room, Asuka?" he asked.

"Just taking a look around," she said quietly, toying with something in the dark. "You have some very 'interesting' things in here."

Shinji took a closer look at what she was playing with, and realized that it had a tail. His head snapped towards his bed and saw that Mr. Teeth was no longer in his usual spot. Returning his attention to Asuka, he took a tentative step forward. "Asuka, what are you doing?"

"Just looking," she said with sly tone. Holding up Mr. Teeth in front of the open window, she asked coyly, "What's this?"

"Put him down Asuka," Shinji said, taking another step forward.

Asuka smiled softly at Shinji. "Alright Shinji, I'll put him down," she said softly. Shinji's shoulders visibly relaxed at this, until he noticed Asuka's smile shift from gentle to cruel. Before he could move, Asuka dropped Mr. Teeth out of the open window.

Time seemed to slow for Shinji as he let out a painful roar. Charging forward, he leaned out of the window as far as he could, looking down at the rain drenched streets far below. He was unable to spot his dear friend however. Pushing away from the window, Shinji turned and flew past Asuka, shoving her painfully across the room. Without looking back he ran into the hall, tossing the towel at Rei as he barreled past her. The enraged Third Child raced through the apartment and out of the front door as quickly as possible. He didn't even spare a glance at the two boys standing right outside of the apartment, he just kept moving.

As he ran barefoot and shirtless through the rain, Shinji ignored the cold as he searched the area around the apartment for Mr. Teeth. "I'll find you, I promised Mari I'd bring you back to her," he said out loud. "I can't lose you, Mari would never forgive me...I would never forgive myself."

Racing through the rain, Shinji hoped and prayed that he would find his friend before something bad happened to him.

* * *

Touji and Kensuke were standing in front of Shinji's apartment as he went racing past them. Sharing a confused look, the two boys turned back to the open door and saw Rei coming towards them. "What's wrong with Shinji?" Kensuke asked.

"Pilot Sohryu has done something unforgivable to Shinji," was all Rei said and she quickly slipped on her shoes. As she tried to pursue Shinji, she found herself blocked by Touji. "What did she do to him?" the jock asked.

"She threw something very precious to Shinji out the window of his room apparently," she said, trying to push past Touji.

"What did she throw?"

"A green felt dinosaur, it belonged to Shinji's best friend, now please move so I may find them."

Touji placed a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Let Kensuke and I look for Shinji and the toy. You go call Misato and tell her what happened," he said.

"Will you be alright in the rain?"

"Yeah, we've got the gear for this weather. We've just got to find Shin-man soon, he's running around half-naked out there," Touji said as Rei nodded. "Don't worry Ayanami, we'll find him quickly...the toy too."

With that, Touji and Kensuke took off into the pouring rain after Shinji. Rei slipped her shoes off and closed the door. She made her way over to the phone more quickly than she would have normally. Picking up the receiver, she dialed the number for Misato's office. After two rings, Misato picked up and said, "Hello?"

"Major Katsuragi, we have a situation," Rei said, with a little urgency in her voice.

"What's wrong Rei? What happened?"

"It appears that Pilot Sohryu has thrown Mr. Teeth out of the window. Shinji has raced out into the rain without his shoes or a shirt to search for him. Also, it appears that Pilot Sohryu was thrown across Shinji's bedroom after the incident," Rei informed her.

"Dammit," Misato swore. Composing herself, she asked, "Do you know where Shinji is now?"

"No, but Shinji's friends Suzuhara and Aida had arrived moments before Shinji's departure to see him. The two of them are currently searching for Shinji and Mr. Teeth."

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can, in the meantime I want you to make sure Asuka does not leave the apartment. My room has a lock on it, so put her in there and lock the door from the outside," Misato told the First Child.

"Understood, I will keep you informed on the progress of the search."

"Good, I'll be back soon," Misato said and hung up.

Rei replaced the receiver and made her way to Shinji's room. Opening the door she spotted Asuka lying on the floor, groaning quietly. Slinging the redhead's arm over her shoulders, Rei dragged the softly moaning Second Child out into the hallway. After nudging Misato's bedroom door open, Rei dropped Asuka right onto a pile of dirty clothes and beer cans. Straightening up and smoothing out her skirt, Rei gave Asuka a look that seemed to be almost contemptuous. Turning on her heel, the First Child exited Misato's bedroom and closed the door. After locking the door, Rei returned to the kitchen to finish putting away the groceries and to wait for her friend to return, hoping that he would come back soon.

* * *

Touji and Kensuke ran out into the rain and cast a look around the area. The sky was almost black with clouds, and the rain came down in so heavily that it was impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. Nudging Kensuke, Touji turned to him and shouted above the rain. "Alright, we'll split up, you go around that way, I'll go this way. Keep your eyes peeled not just for Shinji, but for the stuffed toy too. We've got to hurry, Shin-man won't last too long out here."

Kensuke nodded and took off around the apartment building. Touji watched Kensuke disappear into the rain before running off in the other direction. The jock pulled his jacket tighter around his body as he searched for his friend. Spotting a small park across the street from the building, Touji noticed that it was on the same side of the building as Shinji's apartment. Making his way over to the park, the jock slipped in a puddle and landed with a heavy splash in a racing torrent of water. Rolling over onto his knees, Touji looked to see where the water was heading.

The water was flowing towards a thin storm drain at the end of the road. Standing up, Touji was just about to leave when something green caught his attention. Rushing over to the drain, Touji found himself looking at what appeared to be a very wet pile of cloth. Kneeling to get a closer look, he realized just what he was looking at. Snatching the dinosaur from the mouth of the drain, Touji brought it up to his face to get a closer look. Deciding that this was most likely what Shinji was looking for, Touji took off into the park to look for his friend.

As Touji entered the park, he heard a voice calling his name. Heading deeper into the park, the jock spotted Kensuke standing over a dark shape on the ground. "Touji! Over here," the military otaku shouted. As Touji ran over, he took a look at his watch. His eyes widened when he realized that Shinji had been out here for over a half hour. Coming up to Kensuke, he found his friend standing over a shallowly breathing Shinji. "It looks like he's passed out," Kensuke said. "Did you find the toy?"

"Yeah," Touji said, passing the dinosaur to Kensuke. "Here, give me a hand. Get him up on my back."

Kensuke shoved the dinosaur into his jacket and lifted Shinji up onto the jock's back. Putting his hands under Shinji's legs, Touji braced himself and started moving forward. Making sure to keep his friend steady, Touji took off back towards the apartment, Kensuke following right behind them.

* * *

Rei found herself sitting in the kitchen, waiting for the front door to open. The normally stoic and emotionless girl found frustration mounting inside her, wondering what was taking Suzuhara and Aida so long to find Shinji. Deciding she could wait no longer, she rose and made her way to the front door. Just as she was about to her shoes on, she heard voices out in the hall. Throwing the door open, she saw that Shinji's friends had returned. Suzuhara stumped heavily forward, Shinji still slumped across his back.

Ushering the two boys inside, she told them not to bother with their shoes, but to take Shinji to the bathroom. Rei followed the boys in and thanked them. After they left, Rei stripped Shinji's wet clothes off and dragged Shinji into the tub, which she had the foresight to fill with hot water. Making sure he wouldn't sink beneath the surface, Rei left her only friend to soak. Dropping the drenched clothes in the hamper, she returned to the apartment's living area.

She found Suzuhara and Aida waiting for her. Stepping towards them, Rei bowed deeply and said, "Thank you very much for finding him."

"No problem Ayanami, but that's not all we found," the jock replied. She watched as he nudged Aida, and as Aida reached in his jacket to pull out a very wet Mr. Teeth. Taking the dinosaur from Aida, Rei gave them something that was almost a smile. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Shinji will be happy that his friend is alright."

"Well let him know that we found it just in time, almost lost it down a storm drain. Anyway, you'd better clean that little guy up before Shinji wakes up, I don't think he's gonna like seeing it like this," Suzuhara told her.

Rei nodded and thanked the two boys again. Suzuhara and Aida nodded and bid good-bye to her. Closing the door behind them, Rei went over to the kitchen sink and placed Mr. Teeth in it. Leaving the toy for a minute, she went to go check on Shinji. Seeing that he had warmed up considerably, Rei lifted him from the tub and half-carried/half-dragged him to his room. After drying him off and dressing him in a t-shirt and boxers, she tucked him into his futon and closed the door.

When she returned to the sink, Rei examined the still dripping plush toy. Turning the water on warm, Rei retrieved the laundry soap and added a little to the slowly filling sink. Mixing the soap in, she began gently rubbing the dirt off of Mr. Teeth. After a few minutes of gentle scrubbing, Mr. Teeth was cleaner than he had been in years. Draining the sink, Rei ran the plush toy under a stream of warm water before placing him on the counter to drip dry.

Rei stared down at Mr. Teeth and realized that even if the outside of him was dry, he would still be wet deep inside. Casting a glance towards the oven, Rei turned it on very low and gently placed Mr. Teeth on the wire rack. Closing the oven door, Rei went to check on Shinji. The boy's breathing was still very shallow and his temperature seemed to be rising. She quickly retrieved a washcloth from the bathroom and soaked it in cold water. Placing the washcloth on Shinji's forehead, Rei decided that she had better mop up the water in the apartment.

After mopping up the spill from getting Shinji out of the tub, as well as the mess tracked through by Suzuhara and Aida, Rei went back to the oven to check on Mr. Teeth. The plush toy had been in the oven for around twenty minutes. Pulling him out of the oven, Rei gave Mr. Teeth a had squeeze, and was pleased to note that he was dry all the way through. Gazing softly at the plush toy's face, Rei smiled and decided to sit down and wait for Misato's return.

* * *

Misato returned to the apartment several hours after Rei's initial call. She was very relieved to hear that Touji and Kensuke had found Shinji fairly quickly, and that Shinji was now resting. She was a little concerned that the boy's temperature seemed to be elevated, but they would just have to wait and see how his condition progressed. As she entered the apartment, she found herself face to face with Rei. "Hey Rei, how's Shinji doing?" she asked, taking note of the plush toy in the girl's arms.

"His temperature has not dropped, but instead has risen consistently. I am concerned," she told her guardian. Misato nodded and said, "Take me to him, I want to see Shinji before I deal with Asuka."

"Very well," Rei said, leading Misato towards Shinji's room. As they passed Misato's room, Rei spoke again. "Pilot Sohryu woke several hours ago. She proceeded to scream at her mistreatment for a while, but then she quieted. I am unsure if she is currently awake or not."

"You didn't check up on her?"

"I have no desire for any interaction with Pilot Sohryu, she is bitter and cruel." Misato frowned at this. She had hoped that living together would help bring them all closer together, but that plan had backfired. All living together seemed to do was drive the pilots further apart, and cause Asuka to lash out at her comrades. Misato shook her head clear of those thoughts and focused her attention on Shinji's condition.

Misato knelt down next to Shinji and placed her hand on his forehead. She removed her hand and turned to Rei who was standing next to her. "Call Ritsuko and tell her to get over here, I'm worried about Shinji. After you get off the phone with Ritsuko, go sit with Shinji until I'm done with Asuka."

"Understood," Rei replied as she left the room, still clutching Mr. Teeth. Misato watched as she left the room, and then she followed the blue haired girl out. Closing Shinji's door behind herself, Misato walked over to her and stopped in front of the door. Unlocking it, she took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The room was dark, but Misato could clearly make out the outline of Asuka sitting on her bed. Closing the door, Misato leaned against it and sighed. "Why, Asuka, why? I'm sure you could tell how important that was to Shinji."

"I didn't think he'd freak out like that, and besides, where does he get off throwing me across the room just because I threw a stupid little doll out the window," Asuka whined.

"It's not stupid, not to him. That little doll has been his only friend for ten years, since he lost his Mother and first friend in the same day," Misato told Asuka.

Asuka remained silent at this. Misato sighed again. "I want you to apologize to Shinji when his condition improves. After that, you'll stay away from him unless he approaches you first. Do you understand me?"

Asuka mumbled something. "What was that?" Misato demanded. "Yes Ma'am," Asuka said quietly. Misato frowned at Asuka for a moment before turning around and opening the door. Misato exited the bedroom and made her way to the kitchen where she waited for Ritsuko to arrive. "I hope Shinji gets better soon," the purple haired woman muttered, laying her head on the table.

* * *

The next day, Shinji awoke groggily. His head was pounding and his vision was blurry. Pausing for a moment, he looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where he was. After realizing that he was still at home, he tried to remember what had led him to this point. The last thing he could remember was Asuka holding Mr. Teeth next to his open window. He suddenly bolted upright at the realization that Asuka had dropped his friend out into the rain. Struggling to get up, he froze when he the sound of his door opening. Turning to look at the intruder, he relaxed slightly when he saw it was Misato, and not Asuka come to torture him further.

Misato walked over to Shinji and gently pushed him back down on the futon. Pulling the sheets up to the boy's neck, she placed a thermometer in his mouth. After checking his temperature she spoke absently. "Well, it's gone down a little, but it'll be a while before you get out of that bed. I'm just glad your friends found you when they did."

"Misato," Shinji said coughing hoarsely. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Where's Mr. Teeth? Did they find him?"

Misato gently patted his shoulder and smiled softly. "Yes, they found him. They brought him back with you and they gave him to Rei. After she warmed you up and got you into bed, she went and cleaned him. He looks almost brand new now."

"Can I see him?" he asked softly.

"Not right now, you're really sick, and you don't want to spread those germs. Rei's holding on to him, he's with her right now. Don't worry, she won't let Asuka get to him again."

Shinji nodded. His eye's felt heavy and the sound of Misato's voice started to fade. Before sleep claimed him again, he could hear Misato say, "I hope everything works out between you and Rei. You two are so cute together."

* * *

About a week later the three pilots returned to class, and the rest of the class could see the tension between the three. As Asuka made her way to her seat, she was blocked by Touji. Misato's anger at Asuka's actions had only dampened the German's volatility for a few days, after that she returned to her same belligerent persona. "What do you want?" she demanded.

To say that she was stunned by what happened next was an understatement. Touji cocked back his fist and plowed it hard into Asuka's cheek. The redhead crashed to the ground and glared up at the jock who was cracking his knuckles. "I've seen a lot of jerks and bullies in my life, but even they wouldn't go as far as you did. Just stay away from Shinji," he said, walking away.

The class froze in horror at what had just transpired. Hikari stared in shock at what Touji did to her friend. She and the rest of the class stared at Touji as he went to join Shinji and Rei. The tension in the room rose as Asuka lifted herself off the floor and stared at Touji. Asuke glared at the jock for another moment before huffing angrily and taking her seat. "Bah, why would I even want to bother with that pervert," she muttered.

The class released the collective breath they were holding in at this comment. Just then, the teacher entered the room and Hikari took control. As soon as they were all seated, the class put the confrontation between Touji and Asuka out of their minds, but they all still wondered just what exactly Asuka had done to Shinji.

* * *

"ARRGH! Why can't we go on the class trip?" Asuka complained as she climbed out of the Nerv pool. Shinji sighed at Asuka's behavior while he did his school work. It was obvious to him that Nerv would not allow any of the pilots to travel to Okinawa when there was the possibility of an assault on Tokyo-3. "I know that someone has to be on duty, but why couldn't I go, after all, I'm not needed here," Asuka continued to whine.

"You're still here, Sohryu, because you still have the highest sync ratio. Also, I'm still not fully recovered," Shinji said in a monotone worthy of Rei.

"Ha, you and Wondergirl have proven more than capable than taking of the angels," Asuka spat back.

"Don't you have someone else to bother Sohryu? I have work to do," Shinji said, returning to his computer screen.

"What are you working on, Ikari?"

"Thermal expansion," Shinji replied. He stared at the computer screen for another minute before slamming it shut in frustration. Shoving it into his bag, he rose from the table and stretched. "Well, now that you're done with your work, come join us in the pool," Asuka said, dragging Shinji away from the table.

"Let go of me Sohryu, I can't-"

"Nonsense, you're coming in and that's final," Asuka shouted, pushing Shinji into the pool. The Third Child hit the water hard and immediately sank beneath the surface. Asuka watched and laughed as Shinji started to flail. As Asuka continued to laugh, she heard Shinji trying to say something. Her laughter started to weaken as she realized that Shinji was still flailing violently in the water. As Shinji sank beneath the surface, the German's laughter died completely. She started to panic and ran towards the edge of the pool, staring down at the sinking pilot.

Rei, who had been floating at the opposite end of the pool, took off through the water when she heard the flailing. The blue haired girl flew through the water and dove deep beneath the surface to grab her friend. Rei dragged Shinji to the edge of the pool and pushed him up out of the water. Shinji coughed and sputtered as Rei lifted herself out of the pool and walked over to Asuka.

Rei slapped Asuka hard across the face and frowned. "Shinji cannot swim, a fact that you would have known if you had listened to him," Rei said in a louder tone than normal. Turning her back on Asuka, she returned to Shinji's side to make sure he was alright. Seeing that Shinji was alright, Rei helped him up and walked over to the table. Grabbing his bag, Shinji bid good-bye to Rei and stalked away from the pool. Rei faced Asuka and gave her a cold look before turning away and heading into the locker room.

Asuka watched as they both left, and her heart sank. Her attempt to make up with Shinji backfired and now he hated her more. She wallowed in depression for a moment, before stomping her foot and shouting, "Who cares about that perverse mensch? I don't need him or Wondergirl. I'll prove I'm the best, just watch me!"

* * *

"So, why are we here Misato?" Asuka asked as they stood in the Nerv briefing room.

"Well, we've discovered an Angel currently located inside of Mount Asama," Misato said in her usual cheerful tone.

"Isn't Mount Asama an active volcano?" Shinji asked.

"Yup! The best part is this Angel is still in the embryonic stage, so it can't retaliate."

"What is the objective of this operation?" came Rei's monotone.

"The objective is to capture this Angel before it can hatch, and if that fails to destroy it. We have to move fast, cause if we allow it to escape us, the JSSDF will drop an N2 mine on it...and us too."

"Okay, so we've got to succeed without fail," Shinji said. "Who's going to go in the volcano?"

"Oooh oooh, me, pick me," Asuka shouted, bouncing up and down.

"Well I'm glad you volunteered Asuka, because Unit-02 is the only unit capable of utilizing the D-type equipment. So you and Rei will travel out to Mount Asama and capture the Eighth Angel. Is that understood?"

"Yes Ma'am," Asuka said cheerfully.

"Understood, Major Katsuragi," said Rei in her monotone.

The three pilots departed the briefing room and Shinji stopped Rei. "What is wrong Shinji?"

"I'm not sure, but I just feel like something will go wrong. I may not like Sohryu, and I know you don't like her either, but don't let her get hurt."

"Why not?"

"Well...I...that is..." Shinji tapered off.

"Does it have anything to do with Pilot Makinami?" Rei asked quietly.

Shinji's eyes widened and he muttered, "Yes."

"You really care for her, don't you?"

"Yes, and if something happens to Asuka they may bring her here to pilot instead. I just don't want her to get hurt," Shinji said breathlessly.

"Understood. I will protect Pilot Sohryu so the person you love will not be in harms way," Rei replied, bowing. With that, she left Shinji and entered the locker room. Shinji stood frozen in place as he pondered Rei's words.

"Do I love Mari?" he wondered aloud.

* * *

"Scheisse! The prog knife can't penetrate the core," Asuka swore into the microphone. Nothing about this mission had gone correctly, right from the start. First, the D-Type equipment looked like a fat suit. Second, the Angel was not where it was supposed to be. The final straw was when the Angel, Sandalphon, hatched and began it's assault on Unit-02. Thankfully Asuka still had her progressive knife, otherwise she knew that she'd have been screwed. Unfortunately, even the prog knife was useless, as Sandalphon had adapted to live in extreme environments.

"Dammit, what do I do?" Asuka asked herself.

"Pilot Sohryu, I have an idea," came a familiar monotone.

"Wondergirl? What possible idea could you have?" Asuka asked contemptuously.

There was a pause, and then Rei spoke only two words. "Thermal expansion."

Asuka jerked back in surprise. "Of course! Damn Wondergirl, I'm sorry I doubted you."

Grabbing a cooling line, Asuka snapped it off the suit and rammed it up against Sandalphon's core. "Divert all coolant to line three," she shouted. A moment later the flow of coolant was redirected and the super-chilled substance cascaded over Sandalphon's core. Throwing the hose away, Asuka forced the prog knife into the Eighth Angel's core once again. This time, the knife sank deep into the core, cracking it in half.

As Sandalphon sank, dead, back into the volcano, disaster struck again. As the Angel sank, it snagged on the support cable, snapping it. Without the cable, Asuka sank rapidly deeper into the volcano. The redhead began to panic, all her thoughts kept coming back to the fact that she was about to die. Suddenly, Asuka felt herself jerk to a stop. Whipping around to the screen showing Unit-00's cockpit, she was surprised to see Rei with a look of intense pain. "What the hell are you doing, Wondergirl?"

Rei did not answer, however. She merely used all her strength begin pulling Asuka out of the volcano. A few minutes later, Asuka was safely out of the volcano and being ejected from her plug. As soon as she was safely out of Unit-02, she made her way over to where Rei was being bandaged. After the medical officer left, Asuka walked up the blue haired girl and asked, "Why did you do that Wondergirl? You could have left me to die, wouldn't that have made Ikari happy?"

"No, it wouldn't have," Rei said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Shinji believes that if you died or became unfit to pilot that they would call in Pilot Makinami to replace you."

"So what, and who's this Pilot Makinami anyway?"

"Pilot Makinami is the one who gave Shinji the plush toy that you threw out the window, I also believe that he is in love with her. He does not seem to realize his own feelings yet, but I believe that he will realize them soon."

"So, you kept me alive, despite the fact that you don't like me, so Ikari's little crush would stay safe? What do you get out of this?" Asuka asked.

"I did not do this to keep Pilot Makinami safe, I did it because Shinji asked me to," Rei replied. With that, the First Child rose and walked out of the medical tent. Asuka stood there and thought about what Rei had told her. "Well, if he does like this girl, it looks like I'm out of luck," she sighed. "Oh well, I guess I'll see what I can do to help the little pervert. Maybe if I help him realize his feelings, he'll forgive me for being a arschloch."

* * *

AN3: Okay, first, once again, I'm very sorry that it took so long for me to write this. I'm in the process of moving and I spend all of my time either boxing stuff up for transfer or bagging stuff up for the dump or Goodwill. Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter.

I had originally planned for this chapter to go all the through to the battle with Matarael, but after those first 3 I decided that finishing with Sandalphon was long enough.

Also, I'm going to preempt at least one of you by answering the question that will most obviously come, "What do you have against Asuka?"

Personally, I have nothing against her, in fact I really like her with Shinji. But I want to make sure here that it is obvious, no matter what I do in the future, that she has no chance with Shinji.

Well, that's all I've got for now, so please review and remember flames are welcome. Also feel free to make any comments about the length of my downtime. Remember reviews keep authors happy, but flames keep us working. Thanks again.


	6. Chapter 6 Surprising News

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Evangelion. Though I do own a Mari figure now, and Kaworu too!

* * *

Maya sighed heavily as she sat alone in the Nerv Command Bridge. _Why did everyone decide to take this morning off? I can't imagine they all had to do laundry today_, she thought. Leaning back in her chair, the young woman stretched out her painfully stiff muscles. "I wish I had someone to talk to today. It doesn't matter what, I just want to talk about something," she grumbled.

"You're wish is my command," came a voice from the bridge doorway.

Maya turned around sharply, frowning at the person who intruded onto the bridge. Her glare softened when she realized the interloper was none other than the Third Child. Smiling softly she greeted the boy. "Hello Shinji, what brings you here?"

"Well, I decided I needed to talk to someone about something important, and you were the best choice," the boy replied.

"Really? I'm the best choice? What about Misato or Rei?" Maya asked breathlessly.

"Well, it was something that Rei said that's been bothering me," Shinji explained.

"I see, but what about Misato?"

"Well, Misato is...Misato," Shinji deadpanned.

"Right. She can be a little scattered," Maya replied knowingly.

"Well, that's part of it, but there's more to it, but I'll tell you about that after."

"Okay, so what's been bothering you?"

"Well, before the last operation, where Misato had Sohryu jump into a volcano, I asked Rei to make sure nothing bad happened to her," Shinji stated, taking a seat on the floor next to Maya's chair.

"Why would you ask Rei to protect someone you don't like? Wouldn't it be better for you if Asuka 'disappeared', not that I'm hoping for that," she said, adding the last part defensively.

Shinji chuckled darkly. "Rei had the same thought you did, Maya. But it wouldn't be good, not for me," he replied heavily. "I just had a feeling that if something happened to Sohryu, that my father...he would call 'her' in."

Maya did not need elaboration to know who Shinji was talking about. "Why would that be a bad thing? If he called her in you'd be able to see her again," she said.

"I want nothing more than to be able to see her again, but I don't want her to have to pilot. Piloting is painful, and it seems to cause nothing but sadness," Shinji replied bitterly.

"So what did Rei say next?"

"When I told Rei why I wanted her to protect Sohryu, she said that she would take care of her so that 'the person I love would be out of harms way'," Shinji said, quoting Rei's words.

Maya stared down at the boy...no, young man next to her. _So, it looks like he didn't discover his feelings on his own. Oh well, doesn't make much of a difference at this point...especially if what Misato told me is true_, she thought. Gathering her thoughts, she attempted to piece together her thoughts. "Do you know why she said that?" she asked him.

Shinji shook his head. "She said that because you're in love with Mari...whether you realize it or not," Maya told him gently.

"But how can I be in love with Mari? We haven't seen each other in years!" Shinji shouted.

"Love doesn't have to make sense. Let me ask you something, why did you hold onto Mr. Teeth all these years?"

"Because I promised Mari I'd return him," Shinji said adamantly.

"Sure, that was your reason at first, but after five years you could barely remember Mari, could you?"

Shinji lowered his head in shame. "You're right, I couldn't really remember what she looked like, but I never forgot her," he said sheepishly.

"See, even though you couldn't remember what she looked like, you still kept your promise. Even then, you were in love with her," Maya told firmly.

"And is there anything wrong with that? Is there anything wrong with you loving her?" Maya asked him.

Shinji paused for a moment to consider this. _Is there anything wrong with that? Is there anything wrong with me being in love with Mari?_, he thought, leaning back against the console. Shinji's thoughts turned to the photo of Mari he kept in bag. _Is that why I kept the photo from her personnel file? It would make sense, I know I wouldn't have kept a picture of Rei...or Sohryu. They're both attractive, but Mari's photo, I couldn't stop staring at it._

"Hey, Maya, how long have you known? That I'm in love with her, I mean."

"Since the day we went shopping with Misato," Maya said without looking at him. "Do you remember why you said you fight? You said you wanted to protect Mari, to keep her safe from the pain Eva causes. That's when I knew when you were in love."

Shinji nodded to himself. Standing up, he stepped behind Maya's chair and wrapped his arms around the older woman's shoulders. Initially surprised by the hug, Maya eventually leaned into it. "Thanks Maya, I think I've finally sorted out my feelings. Now I can't wait to see Mari again," he said, releasing the technician.

"I'm glad Shinji," Maya said softly. As her young friend went to leave however, she stopped him. "Wait, you said you'd tell me why you couldn't talk to Misato about this," she called out to him.

"Oh, that. Well...you see...Misato kind of thinks that I'm in love with Rei," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

Maya stared blankly at him. "Why would she think that?"

Shinji shrugged. "Who knows? It probably wouldn't be the first time she jumped to a wild conclusion."

"Well, that's certainly true," the tech sighed. Leaning back in her chair, she listened to the gentle hum of the terminals, until the peaceful silence was broken by a rush of footsteps and muffled voices. Sitting up straight, she turned to see Shinji still on the bridge. She nodded to the boy and watched as Shigeru, Ritsuko, and the commander's entered the bridge. Throwing a quick salute to Gendo and Fuyutsuki, Maya returned her attention to the monitor in front of her.

Shinji stared across the room at his father, curious about the sour expression on his face. Shrugging it off, he turned his attention to the Sub-Commander and was surprised to see that he was smiling slightly. Fuyutsuki, upon seeing Shinji glance at him, offered the boy a warm greeting. "Good morning Pilot Ikari, how are you today?"

Confused by the Sub-Commander's kind words, Shinji responded without meaning to. "Good morning Sir, I'm alright, just trying to get some advice from a friend."

Fuyutsuki nodded and their brief conversation ended. Shinji shook off the confusion and strolled across the command bridge to Shigeru's terminal. Glancing over the tech's shoulder, Shinji only caught a momentary glimpse of the screen, something about a personnel transfer, before the bridge went dark. Surprised by the sudden blackness, Shinji and Fuyutsuki both asked at the same time, "What happened?"

"I'm not sure, Sir. It appears that power is out for the entire Geofront," Shigeru said as he attempted to power up his terminal. As Fuyutsuki reached for his wireless radio, Shinji looked up at his father. The Third Child had a suspicion that Gendo may have been behind the outage. He was proven wrong, however, when he could clearly see a look of concern plastered on his father's visage. Satisfied that his father had no part in this act, Shinji returned his attention to Fuyutsuki, who had just finished his conversation with the Section 2 agents.

"You would be right, Aoba. Power is out for all of Tokyo-3. We must assume that this is either an attack...or a probe," the Sub-Commander said gravely.

"What do you mean Sir?" Maya asked, confused by the situation.

It was Ritsuko who responded. "It is entirely possible for an enemy organization to figure out the layout of this facility by which systems we restart, and when," she told them with a grim tone.

"What can be done about this?" was all Commander Ikari said.

"If we create a dummy program we can use it to randomly restart the different divisions and keep out opponents guessing," she said. Upon hearing this, Maya nodded and reached under her seat for her laptop.

Shinji was strangely on edge. He couldn't shake the feeling that something might happen. Returning his attention to the Sub-Commander, he said, "Sir, I'm going to make my way down to the cages. I want to be ready in case anything happens."

"Very good, Pilot Ikari. Come up here," Fuyutsuki said, beckoning Shinji to come up to the Commander's chair. Shinji obeyed and climbed up the stairs to his father's seat. When he reached the commanders, he watched as Fuyutsuki knelt down and pried open a small hatch in the floor behind his father's chair. Straightening up, Fuyutsuki looked at Shinji and said, "Here, this will take you directly to the cages. Tell the Section 2 agent down there to set his radio to Channel 7 when you get there."

"Yes sir," the boy replied, while adding under his breath, "Only you would have an escape hatch Father."

With that, Shinji slowly lowered himself into the depths of Nerv. Fuyutsuki stepped away from the hatch and looked down at Ritsuko. "Doctor Akagi, I want you to begin preparations for the restart of our systems. I want to be up and running as soon as possible."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the streets of Tokyo-3, Asuka and Rei were making their way towards the Geo-front for testing, and arguing as usual.

"I don't see what you're so wound up about Wondergirl," Asuka sighed.

"I do not wish you to interfere in the romantic aspects of Shinji's life," Rei replied.

"Relax Wondergirl, I have no intention of messing with the Third and his little girlfriend."

"Pilot Makinami is not Shinji's girlfriend."

"I'm aware of that, mein Gott, can't you understand sarcasm?"

"I am able to fully understand sarcasm, but you should elaborate on what you mean."

"I know Makinami isn't his girlfriend, I'm saying he wants her to be, and that is what he's going to try and achieve when little Miss Strange shows up," Asuka explained with an exhasperated sigh.

"I see, but I have one more query."

"What?"

"How can you say that Pilot Makinami is strange when you have not met her?"

"Easy, she's interested in Ikari."

"That is untrue, we cannot know if she is indeed interested in Shinji as they have not met once in the last decade."

"She showed interest in him back then, what's going to make now any different. I can also say she's strange since Ikari likes her. Anyway, don't worry about it so much, I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize his potential relationship, I'm still trying to get back in his good books here."

"What do you mean by 'good books'?"

"It's an expression, Wondergirl. Mein Gott, don't you know anything? It means I'm still trying to make peace with him," Asuka told Rei.

Rei nodded at Asuka's comment, then froze. Asuka carried on a few more feet, muttering to herself, before she stopped as well. "Hey Wondergirl," Asuka said. "Why'd you stop?"

Rei held up a hand to silence Asuka before she spoke just a single word. "Listen."

Asuka fell silent and strained her ears to hear whatever it was that had caught Rei's attention. It was faint at first, but soon Asuka could hear it clearly. "Attention all Nerv personnel, there is an Angel approaching Tokyo-3, I repeat an Angel is approaching Tokyo-3. Attention all Nerv personnel..."

As the voice trailed off into the distance, Asuka realized who was speaking. "That was Hyuga," she exclaimed. "If he's right we have to hurry and get to HQ."

"Wait a moment," came Rei's ever calm voice.

"Why? What possible reason could we have for waiting?"

"Is it not strange that Lieutenant Hyuga would be outside the Geo-front announcing the angel's arrival?"

"So, I thought strange was par for the course for us."

"Ignoring your strange metaphor, you would be correct. But why would he need to notify Nerv personnel if they could see it on their monitors?"

Asuka paused for a moment to consider this. Suddenly, she came to a chilling realization. "He wouldn't have to...unless they couldn't see it."

"Exactly."

"So what does this mean? What could prevent them picking up the angel?"

"A power failure would be able to temporarily shut down Nerv HQ, but it would have to be sabotage."

"Sabotage? You're saying that someone knocked out the power on purpose? But to what end?"

"I do not know. However, it should be impossible."

Asuka snorted dismissively at that comment. "Regardless of whether or not it's in the realm of possibility, it's happened. So, would they have just knocked out Nerv HQ, or the whole Geo-front?"

Rei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them again, she faced Asuka. "To completely shut down Nerv HQ for any significant duration of time, they would have to cut the power to all of Tokyo-3."

Asuka's eyes widened. "Well then," she said with a feral smirk. "I guess we've got no time to lose. Lead the way Wondergirl, we've got an angel to kill."

Rei flashed Asuka something that was almost a smile. Turning away, she pointed down the road. "The closest emergency access point is this way."

Asuka nodded and the pair of schoolgirls headed off, knowing that time was most definitely of the essence.

* * *

As Shinji entered the cages, a member of the maintenance crew approached him. "Pilot Ikari, we've just received word that an angel is approaching the city."

Shinji's eyes widened. "An angel? How can we launch the Eva's without power?"

"We keep an emergency diesel generator on hand for situations like this. We'll use it to manually insert the entry plugs. There's just one problem."

"Let me guess, we have to lift the entry plugs up to the proper position."

The crew member nodded. "Correct. Don't worry, we'll prep your Eva first so you can go out immediately."

"No, if I know Asuka and Rei, they're already on their way, and with Rei's knowledge of Nerv they'll be here soon. Let me help, I'm strong enough."

The crew member looked like he was about to protest, but held his tongue. "Alright, roll up those sleeves and we'll get started."

Shinji went to roll up his sleeves when he realized what shirt he was wearing. It was the teal button down, the one that matched Mari's eyes. Unbuttoning it, he draped it as well as his t-shirt, over a nearby railing. Rolling his neck, he set off after the crew member. After being given a crash course in their work, he fell into line. Grasping the rope in front of himself, Shinji waited until the foreman gave the signal before he started pulling.

Shinji heaved with all his might, every fiber of his being focused on the task at hand. His muscles strained as he sweated from the exertion. Minute by minute the entry plug for Unit-01 rose higher and higher, inch by painfully slow inch. As he worked, Shinji became aware that the men behind him had shifted to allow another person in. Shinji glanced quickly over his shoulder, and was surprised to find the cold visage of Gendo Ikari looking back at him.

Ignoring his father's presence, Shinji returned his focus to the task at hand. Minutes creeped by and Shinji began to experience the uncomfortable feeling of someone staring at him. A quick glance showed him that it was Gendo. Shinji realized then what was happening. His father was examining the scars on his back. As Gendo had quickly ushered Shinji out of the lab that day and shipped him off to his relatives the next day without even so much as a goodbye, he had never had a chance to see them. Grunting from exertion, Shinji spoke, "They're a souvenir, the scars. They're a souvenir from the day Mom died."

Gendo said nothing. Shinji waited to see if his father would say something, anything, but it never happened. Snorting in annoyance, Shinji shook his head. "Of course you don't care, never did anyway," the boy scoffed under his breath, just loud enough for his father to hear. Putting Gendo's utter lack of parental compassion out of his mind, Shinji looked up to see how close they were. _Just a few more feet, and then we'll be all set_, he thought to himself. A few more minutes of pulling on that rope, and the entry plug was in place. As the crews started cheering and patting each other on the back, Shinji turned to face Gendo. Intending to confront his father about what he was thinking on that day, Shinji was interrupted by noises coming from overhead.

Looking up, Shinji watched as the air vent above them started to shake. As the shaking grew more vigorous, he realized that he could hear voices coming from it. "Dammit Wondergirl, I thought you said you knew where you were going."

"I know exactly where we are going, Sohryu. We have reached our destination."

"Oh really? Well that's great, just one question _Wondergirl_, wie in Gottes Namen sollen wir runter?"

"I assume you are asking how we are getting down. Like this."

Suddenly, the grating in the vent gave way and a thoroughly pissed Asuka fell rapidly to the ground, and landed right on Shinji. As Rei dropped gracefully down after her, Asuka jumped up and started shouting. "Was zum Teufel Wondergirl? Der Teufel glaubst du, du tust? Ich sollte dich töten, du kleine Schlampe!"

Shinji, rubbing his shoulder where the fiery redhead landed on it, pushed her lightly and said, "Calm down Sohryu, no one can understand you when you starting cursing us out in German."

Asuka rounded on Shinji. "Was zum Teufel redest du Ikari? Ich spreche nicht Deutsch Sie-" Asuka froze. Taking a few deep, calming breaths, she continued. "Sorry about that, sometimes when I'm really pissed I revert back."

"It's alright, just try not to curse out in German too much, no one cares when you do," Shinji said with a shrug.

Attempting to forestall anymore fighting, Rei spoke. "Are the Eva's prepared to launch?"

Breaking eye contact with Asuka, Shinji turned to Rei and said, "Yeah, they just need to insert the plugs. Time to suit up ladies."

* * *

As Shinji left the locker room, he heard Asuka calling his name. "Hey Ikari, you gotta plan for this?" the german asked.

"Why would you think I have a plan? You're supposed to be the 'best pilot of all'," he replied, adding air quotes.

"Fine, I'll figure something out, as soon as we get more intel," Asuka huffed.

"Won't have to wait long," Shinji shot back. He nodded towards the catwalk ahead of them. "Maya's already here."

The trio of pilots walked up to the young woman and Asuka took charge. "So Maya, what's the situation?"

Maya nodded to Shinji and the others. "The Angel is currently located just outside of the city. Now, we have fitted the Eva's with external batteries, allowing for extra active combat time."

"How much time?" Rei asked calmly.

Maya swallowed. "Ten minutes," she said quietly.

"How long will it take to reach the surface?" Shinji demanded.

"Barring any unforeseen complications..." Maya trailed off.

Shinji took a step closer to Maya and looked her in the eye. "How long?"

Maya hung her head. "Approximately seven minutes."

"That's almost half our time," Asuka exclaimed.

"Forget it, there's nothing we can do about it," Shinji replied sternly. "Maya, what about locating the Angel while we're climbing?"

"We have minimal communication courtesy of a backup generator. The Section 2 agents on the surface have reported that it is currently heading straight for the center of the city, directly above HQ. Unfortunately, that's all we can tell you, once you start the climb we'll be out of contact."

"Isn't there anything you can do to keep contact with us?" Asuka asked.

"No, I'm sorry. The launch shafts block out radio waves so you'll essentially be running blind," Maya said apologetically.

"It should not matter," was all Rei said.

"What do you mean Wondergirl?"

"Think about it Sohryu, all of Angels that have directly attacked the city so far have all been aiming for one thing, the Geofront," Shinji said calmly. He folded his arms across his chest before he continued. "If this one follows the same logic that the others have, it'll come straight to us, at the city's center. What we need to do is stop questioning the plan and get started."

"Shinji is right, the longer we remain here, the closer the Angel is to Nerv," Rei stated quietly.

"Alright," Asuka sighed. "But what about a plan?"

Shinji shrugged. "I don't know, make it up as we go?"

Asuka sighed again. "I suppose it'll have to do."

"Well, if you three are ready, it's time to get going," Maya told them.

The three pilots nodded and made their way to their Eva's. As they started up their Eva's, Maya's voice came over the short range radio in each entry plug. "Everyone, Tube G7 has been cleared, it's the quickest and most direct route to the surface. All you have to do is climb. Good luck, you're on your own from here." With that, Shinji and the others began the seven minute climb to the surface.

* * *

The climb was slow going for the three Eva's, and it was made even more exhausting by Asuka's constant chatter. "Mein Gott, could this take any longer? It feels like we've been climbing for hours."

"Sohryu, please shut up. It's been five minutes, we're almost there," came Shinji's exasperated tone. "So, please, for the love of all that is good in this world, shut up and climb."

"Well, Ikari, I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous and exhausting. Also, we still don't have a plan," Asuka shot back.

"Fine then, we have two minutes. Rei, what do we have for armament?"

"Unit-01 and Unit-02 are both equipped with Progressive Knives, also Unit-00 is currently outfitted with the standard Pallet rifle," Rei offered, a slight edge to her voice from all of Asuka's complaining.

"Well, not much on the weapons front, oh glorious leader," Asuka snorted. "So what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know yet," Shinji ground out. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he saw the most unpleasant thing he'd seen in a long time. Staring down the mouth of the shaft was an enormous eye. Before he could warn the others, the eye began to cry. One of the tears crashed down on the external battery and began to eat through it.

"Acid! Ikari, eject the battery and slide back down, we can duck into the auxiliary line right before the lower platform," Asuka shouted.

"Right, ejecting the battery now." As Shinji did that, everything went to hell. His grip slipped and Unit-01 fell back down the shaft, crashing into the retreating Units below. Asuka and Rei managed to keep them all from falling all the way back down the shaft, but the collision knocked the Pallet rifle loose. As the pilots ducked into the auxiliary shaft, they realized that their best chance at defeating the Ninth Angel had fallen to the platform below them. Cursing, Shinji slammed his fist into the console. "Dammit, now what do we do?" he growled.

"I have an idea, and it's gonna need all of us to pull it off. You willing to trust me Ikari?"

"What's your idea Sohryu?"

"We need the rifle, right? All we need to do is go down there and get it."

"Oh, like that's easy. What do you intend to do about the acid being dropped on us?"

"Okay, that's the hard part. While one of us drops down to grab the rifle, someone else will have to block the acid. Once the one who dropped down grabs the rifle, they'll throw it up to last one of us. They'll take the shot."

"That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. But I don't have any better ideas, so who's going to do which part?"

"Alright, Wondergirl, you'll get the rifle. Ikari-"

Shinji cut her off. "Let me guess, I get the wonderful task of blocking the acid for you?"

Asuka smiled. "No, since I have the highest sync-ratio, I'll block the acid. You'll take the shot. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Shinji replied. "You know, if this works, I might start to trust you again."

"Oh, I'm so happy," Asuka said, rolling her eyes. "Let's do this."

"Right then, on three."

"One," Rei said.

"Zwei," came Asuka.

"Three, GO!"

Asuka swung up out of the shaft and braced herself. Unfortunately, the acid attack from earlier had compromised the stability of the walls and Unit-02 found it's hand plunging through the weakened metal. The sudden lack of support caused Asuka to fall rapidly down to the platform. As she crashed down, Shinji began to move.

"Change of plans," he shouted. "Asuka, toss the gun to Rei. Rei, take the shot."

With that, Shinji braced himself in the tunnel just as the acid hit. The two girls listened as Shinji screamed out in agony. White hot burst of pain ripped through his back, as the stress of the acid on Unit-01 transferred back to its pilot. Shinji could feel the old scars on his back begin to open as he watched the others move below him.

Rei quickly dropped into the tunnel, using her feet and shoulders to hold herself in the proper position. Asuka grabbed the Pallet rifle and quickly through it up to Unit-00. Rei swung the rifle into place and lined up her shot. Shinji felt his eyes start to blur as the shells from the rifle flew past him. A moment later, the acid stopped falling. The sudden relief from the blinding pain caused Shinji's body to relax. Unit-01 slipped from its perch as its pilot lost consciousness. The last thing he heard before the blackness claimed him was Asuka calling out for Rei to catch him.

* * *

When Shinji finally came to, he found himself at a familiar, but unwelcome ceiling. _I never wanted to find myself staring at this again_, he thought to himself. With a groan, Shinji voiced his query aloud, "What happened?"

"The stress from the acid caused your scars to rip open, you passed out," came Asuka's voice to his right. Turing his head in the direction of the German's voice, Shinji found himself being helped into a seated position. Rubbing his temples to alleviate the headache now pounding the inside of his skull, Shinji noticed something green in Asuka's hand. Catching his look, Asuka held up the plush toy for him to see clearly. He immediately tensed as the redhead began to speak.

"You know, this guy has been sitting in this chair ever since you were wheeled in here. He's actually kind of cuddly," she said, adding the last part as an afterthought. Seeing the nervous look on her comrade's face, she quickly handed Mr. Teeth over to him. As the look of relief spread across his features, Asuka smiled slightly. "So, why is it so important to return the little guy?" she asked casually.

"It's love," was Shinji's only response.

Asuka smiled at that. _So he's really in love with her, huh? Good for him_. Clearing her throat, she caught the injured pilots attention. "Shinji," she said in a carefully measured tone. "I want to bury the hatchet. If we keep fighting all the time, one of us is going to get killed.."

Shinji stared back at the fiery girl. Asuka shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. A few moments later, after Asuka had suffered enough, Shinji smiled softly. "I suppose we could at least be civil," he said carefully. "But us being friends is still a ways off. I trust you now, especially after this last mission, but it'll take some time for us to really become friends."

"That's fine, as long as we're not constantly at each others throats we should be fine," she replied cheerfully. Standing up from her seat next to the bed, Asuka turns to leave, citing that Shinji should get dressed and wait for Misato to pick him to recover at home. Just as she was about to reach the door however, she stopped. Looking back over her shoulder, she called out to him. "Oh yeah, when they brought your clothes over from the locker room, they noticed that you were missing a sock."

Shinji gave her a stunned look for a moment, just a moment, then he burst out laughing. With that, Asuka left to allow the injured pilot to rest, all the while wondering what was so funny about losing a sock.

* * *

A few days had passed since the ninth angels defeat, and Shinji was still recovering from his injuries. He had taken a turn for the worse when PenPen ran into him almost immediately after he walked through the door. The resulting collision had reopened a few of the almost healed scars on Shinji's back, and led to PenPen being grounded in his room.

Since Shinji had taken the brunt of the damage the other day, Asuka and Rei were both fit enough to go to school. The two girls hadn't spoken to each other much since the attack, and Asuka was beginning to realize that she also had to mend fences with the albino girl. As she sat down to lunch with Hikari, Asuka spotted her chance. The German saw Rei sitting by herself beside the window, lunch box sitting unopened on the desk in front of her. Rising from her seat, Asuka ignored Hikari's questioning look and strode purposely over to Rei. Without even a word, she grabbed Rei's hand and pulled her up out of her chair. Pausing only to grab the other girl's lunch, Asuka dragged her over to her seat and sat Rei down in it. Grabbing another chair, she sat down in between the two girls.

Rei, inwardly surprised by her fellow Eva pilot's actions, said nothing and simply opened her lunch box to begin eating. The three girls ate in uncomfortable silence, the tension rising by the second. Asuka, realizing that she had to say something, smiled slyly at Rei. "Well, I hope Shinji's in pain," she said in an impish tone. Asuka waited until Rei was looking at her before she continued. "I mean, only an idiot like him could be so heroic in battle only to get laid out by a penguin when he got home."

Rei lowered her chopsticks fractionally. She studied Asuka's face for a moment, the sly smile never having left, and then she spoke. "Well, if you had not been so clumsy, Shinji would not have suffered any injuries at all. I had though that you were supposed to be the best of us," Rei deadpanned.

Asuka's sly grin turned sinister as she smiled wider at Rei's comment. "Well said Wondergirl," Asuka shot back. "Your superpower must be super observation."

To her credit, Rei's expression never shifted. "It is a much better superpower than yours, Asuka."

"And do tell, what is my superpower?" Asuka asked sarcastically.

"I believe the term is...bitchiness?"

Asuka let out a short, barking laugh. "Oh ho, I misjudged you Wondergirl. If my power is super bitchiness, yours must be the ability to be duller than the idiot."

"If that is the case then I do not mind, I am still more interesting than you," Rei replied without pause.

"You? More interesting than me? Nice try, but you have all the personality of tree moss."

"Well, at least my head does not constantly appear to be on fire."

"My hair has style, unlike that mop you call hair."

The two pilots continued to trade insults, neither backing down to the other. Hikari watched all of this silently, wondering what had caused this fight to start. As the insults kept flying, the class rep noticed something. Through it all, both pilots were smiling, Asuka's was more noticeable, but the tiny, demure smile was evident on Rei's features. Realizing that the two girls were joking around, Hikari attempted to join in. "Why don't you two just make out and be done with it?" she said just a little too loudly.

Her comment froze the words in Asuka's mouth. The fiery haired German stared at her friend, as did the rest of the class, wondering where that comment had come from. Hikari blushed scarlet and sunk down in her chair, trying to appear as small as possible. Suddenly, Asuka burst out laughing at the top of her voice, while Rei used her hand to stifle a quiet giggle. Regaining her breath, Asuka wiped a few tears from her eyes as she looked at Hikari and shook her head. Taking another breath to calm herself down completely, she turned to Rei and said pointedly, "Those were some good insults, but you need to work on your sense of tact."

"My sense of tact is perfectly fine, it is just not needed when speaking with you," Rei said, falling back into her usual deadpan tone.

Asuka let out another short laugh. Calming herself, she asked, "Rei, I know we don't always get along, but do you think that we could be friends?"

Rei smiled softly at her fellow pilot. "I believe that would be nice," she said gently. She spoke again though, this time with a bit of playfulness. "Though I do believe that Hikari would be a better friend than you."

The three girls laughed at this, happy that they could all be friends now. They hurried to finish their lunches, making sure that they were ready by the time that their teacher returned.

* * *

"So let me get this straight, there is a giant angel currently in orbit above Earth. This angel is potentially an enormous bomb, and we currently don't have any equipment for dealing with an adversary like this," Shinji said irritably, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did I miss anything?"

The three pilots were currently standing in the briefing room facing Misato and Maya. They were ordered to suit up and meet there for the outline of their next operation. The two older woman kept their expression impassive, but Shinji could see a little concern on Maya's face. Putting that aside for now, he waited for Misato's response.

"Nope, that pretty much covers it," Misato replied.

"What about the positron rifle used against the fifth angel?" he asked.

"No good. The energy burns off too rapidly and by the time the beam did reach the target it wouldn't have the force to penetrate it's A.T. field," Maya replied from behind Misato.

"Alright then, tell us you have a plan, and please tell me it doesn't involve waiting to die," Asuka growled.

"The plan is simple. You're going to catch it."

Shinji laughed. "That was a good one Misato, but seriously, what's the plan?"

"You're going to catch it," she repeated.

Sticking a finger in his ear to help clear it out, Shinji turned to Rei. "My hearing must be going," he said. "Because I could have sworn she just said we're going to catch it."

"She did Shinji, and I do not believe anything is wrong with your hearing," Rei replied.

"You're crazy, you do realize that, don't you Misato?" Asuka told her pointedly.

Misato ignored her charges. _They can be stubborn little brats when they want to_, she thought to herself. Deciding it was better to just get this over with, she continued with her briefing. "You three will be placed at the following locations surrounding Tokyo-3," she informed them, pointing out their starting positions. Maya chimed into the briefing here. "The MAGI can't accurately predict the exact spot where the angel will land, but from it's current trajectory it appears to be heading directly for us. If it impacts anywhere within this area, all of Tokyo-3, as well as the Geofront, will be destroyed."

"So, schlimm Scheisse," Asuka summed up.

"Exactly," Misato agreed, ignoring Asuka's language.

"So, if you don't mind me asking," Shinji said, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "What is the basis for these positions."

Misato gave Shinji a knowing smile. "Women's intuition," she said cheerfully.

"Well then, I guess we're all screwed considering you're not very womanly," Asuka muttered.

"Shut the hell up," Misato growled back at her. Taking a moment to compose herself, she continued. "Protocol dictates that each of you have to write a will before undertaking an operation like this."

"Ha, like I'll need that. I have no intention of dying today," Asuka scoffed.

"It is unnecessary. I have nothing to leave behind," Rei said softly.

"All I need is for someone to complete my mission. As long as I have someone to do that, I don't care about the rest," Shinji shrugged.

Misato smiled. "Alright then, head to your stations. Good luck to you."

With that, the three pilots made their way to their Eva's, each confident that they would succeed in the coming battle.

* * *

The operation started with little fanfare. One minute they were getting set in position, the next they were off and running. With only a five minute window, they had to make the best of their time. The tenth angel, Sahaquiel, fell rapidly, picking up speed as it got closer to it's intended target. As it approached the ground of Tokyo-3, Shinji realized that he was going to be closest. Unfortunately, he would need a little help getting there. "It's coming down in my section, but I need some help," he shouted into his comm.

"We're on it," came Misato's voice. "Makoto, raise the blast shields along his along his current trajectory and off towards the target."

"On it," Hyuuga's voice responded.

Shinji watched as the blast shields began to slowly rise. Hitting the first one, he followed their track around to the angel's landing site. Picking up the pace, Shinji used the slowly rising missile towers provided by Nerv HQ as stepping stones. Launching himself from the top of the highest tower, Shinji picked up the pace even more, breaking the sound barrier in the process. Skidding to a halt, he came to a stop beneath Sahaquiel and pushed his A.T. field to the limit. Raising his hands, he felt the tenth angel's A.T. field collide with his own.

The force of the impact caused Shinji to strain for a moment under the pressure, before regaining his strength. Seeing that it's adversary wouldn't be easily dealt with, Sahaquiel produced it's own hands to meet Unit-01, and transformed them into spikes as they made contact. The spikes penetrated straight through Unit-01's hands, causing Shinji to cry out in pain. The pain coupled with the pressure was too much for Shinji, and his knee's began to buckle. He quickly found himself forced down on one knee as Sahaquiel attempted to crush him.

Straining against his enormous foe, Shinji growled into the comm for Asuka and Rei. "Dammit, where the hell are you two? I can't hold this much longer."

"We're coming, keep you pants on Shinji," Asuka told him.

"Asuka is currently 35 seconds out, while I am 45," came Rei's ever calm voice.

"Hang on Shinji, I know you can do it," Misato shouted over the link.

Shinji attempted to regain his feet, but the weight was too much, and his other knee went. Now kneeling before the angel, all Shinji could do was apologize. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm done, I'm so sorry everyone."

Just as everything seemed bleak, Maya's voice came roaring through the comm. "You can't give up yet Shinji, you just can't. Do you want to know why?"

"Why?" Shinji asked tiredly.

"Because she's already on her way. If you fail here, there won't be a Tokyo-3 for her to come to, and there will be no way for you to finish your mission," she shouted.

The realization of her words struck Shinji like a thunder bolt. _Mari's coming here_, was the only thought going through his head. Absently, Shinji felt himself rising to his feet. The bridge staff watched incredulously as Shinji's sync ratio jumped significantly. "How is this possible?" Misato asked.

"Love," was Maya's response.

The bridge staff continued to watch as Asuka reached Shinji faster than predicted. Positioning herself underneath Unit-01, she braced her fellow pilot against the onslaught of Sahaquiel. As the two pilots strained under the strength of their enemy, Asuka screamed into the comm. "Verdammt Wondergirl, beweg deinen Arsch hier rüber jetzt!"

Rei, who had just reached the pair, ignored Asuka's shouting. Instead, she ran towards the open shoulder pauldron on Unit-02 and grabbed the progressive knife. She quickly activated it and penetrated the tenth angel's A.T. field. As soon as she was through, she rammed the blade as deep into the core as possible. Throwing her weight against it, she twisted the blade, causing the core to crack. The resulting fissure was sufficient, as the core explode, showering the three Eva's with blood. In less than five minutes, Sahaquiel, the tenth angel, was defeated.

As the angel's body exploded into a torrent of blood, Shinji felt his strength leaving him. As his consciousness began to fade, he vaguely heard Misato say something about going out to celebrate afterwards. His last thought before slipping into the blissful black was, _Mari's coming, I can finally see her again_.

* * *

A few hours later, after Shinji had come around, the Katsuragi/Ikari/Sohryu/Ayanami household was sitting at a local ramen stand not far from the apartment. Putting down his chopsticks for a moment, Shinji leaned close to Misato and whispered, "I just wanted to know, is anything going to happen to Maya for telling me what she did? I figure she's known for a while now and that someone didn't want me to know."

Misato swallowed. Leaning back towards Shinji, she replied, "Ordinarily I'd say yes, you weren't supposed to know she was coming until she was already here. But given the circumstances...I guess I can let it slide."

Shinji smiled. "I'm glad that Maya's going to be alright. I wouldn't want anything to happen to her because of me," he said. Taking a sip of his tea, Shinji continued, "I'm also glad that I know that she's coming now. Now I can finally finish what I started and return my friend to Mari. And I can tell her how I feel."

"What do you mean Shinji? I know Maya said something on the bridge, but she couldn't mean..." Misato trailed off.

"She's right Misato. I'm in love with Mari," came Shinji's reply.

Misato reeled back in surprise at Shinji's comment. "But how?" she demanded. "How can you be in love with someone you haven't seen for 10 years? How can you be in love with someone you don't know? How can you be in love with someone who you have no idea what they look like?"

Shinji didn't reply. He simply reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a photograph. Passing it to Misato, she realized that it was Mari's Nerv ID picture. A picture that would have been in the personnel file she should to Shinji shortly after the third angel attacked. Still confused, she attempted to question Shinji further, only to find Asuka and, surprisingly enough, Rei laughing at her.

Taking the picture back from Misato, Shinji spoke calmly and confidently. "Love doesn't make sense. It never has and it never will. But just because it doesn't make sense, doesn't mean that it isn't right. I love Mari more than anything, and nothing will ever change that. Not even her."

* * *

AN: Wow, I really suck. I should have had this out months ago. Instead I wait forever and undoubtedly piss some of you off. That being said, I'm really starting to feel all of the creative juices flowing again. I've got a non-fanfiction project going, that will not take up too much of my fanfic time (at least not for the next nine months, after that there are no promises) and a whole new drive to bring Shinji and Mari together after watching Rebuild of Evangelion 2.22 again.

Also, in case some of you are wondering, I have translations for Asuka's german rants. The first bit is already clarified by Rei, but that rest are as follows:

"What the hell Wondergirl? The fuck do you think you're doing? I should kill you, you little bitch!"

"What the hell are you talking about Ikari? I'm not speaking in German you-"

"Bad Shit"

and finally, "Damn it Wondergirl, get your ass over here now!"

Okay, that is all I have for now, so please remember to review, and flames are always welcome. Wait, two more things. First, if anyone wants to PM me with questions about my story or if they want me to look at theirs, please feel free. And Second, the wait is finally over. Next chapter people. See you then.


	7. Chapter 7 The Arrival

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Evangelion.

AN1: I don't normally do this, but you should check out Shattered Glass by Jalen of the Silence. It's amazing. Now, on with the story.  
P.S. You should also check out Evangelion: Age of Marvels by Chuckman. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but it's really well written. Now we're on with the story.

Warning: This chapter may contain language of a sexual, but ambiguous, nature. Don't say I didn't warn you.

* * *

"Ritsuko, are we going to make it?" Misato asked over the Magi's self-destruct countdown.

"I should finish with one second to spare," came the doctor's voice from inside of Caspar.

"One second?" Misato asked incredulously.

"It's not a zero or a minus," Ritsuko shot back irritably.

As her fingers flew across the keys, Ritsuko reflected on how she ended up cramped inside of her mother's creation. Somehow the Twelfth Angel hitched a ride into Nerv HQ as part of a panel in the 87th protein wall. The damn angel managed to take control of the test body and force them to abort their test. After the pilots were launched into the Geofront lake, Ritsuko and the other scientists found themselves forced to flee the Pribnow Box as the resulting assault against Ireul caused the safety glass to crack and allow the thousands of gallons of water to come crashing through. Now, hours and one very complex firewall later, Ireul was close to victory. All it needed was to beat out Dr. Ritsuko Akagi before she could cause it to turn on itself.

Ireul was quick, but it was no match for Ritsuko. With a second to spare, Ritsuko pressed the action key and Ireul ground to a halt. As the Twelfth Angel's assault was reversed and the Magi were returned to normal, Ritsuko leaned back with a sigh. "Thanks Mom," she said softly, gently placing a hand on the organic computer.

As she crawled free of the Magi's confining interior, she could hear Misato organizing the retrieval efforts of the three pilots. Ritsuko breathed a sigh of relief, she certainly didn't want to be the one to pick up the most likely pissed Second Child. She could just imagine Asuka's rage after being trapped in her entry plug during the attack. Stretching, Ritsuko decided that she'd earned a break and left Misato to corral her roommates.

* * *

A short while later, recovery crews were lifting the last entry plug out of the lake and onto the shore. As soon as the plug was safely on dry land, Shinji forced the hatch open and climbed out. As one of the crew passed him a towel, Shinji could hear a wolf whistle coming from the tent just up the hill. Shinji's eyes shot upwards to see Asuka staring down at him. Realizing that he was still naked, Shinji quickly wrapped the towel around himself and stormed towards the tent.

"Woo, Shinji! Take it off big man!" Asuka shouted at him. Shinji's attempts to ignore her went unnoticed by the young German.

"So Shinji~, packing a nice pallet rifle for your girlfriend?" Asuka sarcastically asked him.

Shinji ignored the comment, but flushed slightly at her choice of language. Stepping behind the curtain, he began to put on Nerv issue coveralls as Asuka continued to make more inappropriate comments.

"You've got a pretty impressive prog knife there," she said. "Or is it a prog sword?"

Shinji continued to ignore her, but it was ineffectual. The young German smiled brightly as she continued. "You gonna sheath that hard, heavy sword in her?"

At this point, Shinji's embarrassment grew worse as Rei decided to finally speak up. "Excuse me, but I do not understand what is going on? What does the arrival of Pilot Makinami have to do with Shinji carrying a pallet rifle, or a having a non-existent progressive sword? Also, if he did have such a sword, why would he want to stab her with it?"

Asuka fell silent at the girl's question. Shinji stepped out from behind the curtain, now dressed, and stared open mouthed at the blue-haired albino. Asuka's eye began twitching slightly as she gazed at Rei, still frozen in place from the abrupt comment. Then, she burst out laughing hysterically. Shinji palmed his forehead before falling into a chair, as Asuka fell to her knees, holding her sides. Panting from the strain it had put on her lungs, Asuka brushed a few tears from her eyes before explaining.

"Oh Wondergirl, you have so much to learn. I'm not really talking about either of those things, I'm talking about Shinji's junk."

"What do you mean? What do these comments have to do with Shinji's refuse?"

Shinji flushed even brighter at Rei's ignorance. Ducking back behind the curtain, Shinji listened as Asuka started laughing again. "Ha ha ha, mein gott are you stupid. I'm talking about Shinji's penis Wondergirl."

"Oh, I see," Rei said softly. "Then the statements you used before were..."

"Euphemisms for the size of his junk."

"They did not seem like they were just euphemisms for size."

"That's true, I was also implying where he would put it. I'm saying that Shinji's gonna have sex with Makinami when she gets here," Asuka explained climbing into the chair Shinji had vacated.

"I see, but Shinji seems distressed," Rei replied.

"Of course he does, I made those comments to embarrass him. Men are always embarrassed about their size."

"I understand the concept, but I do not see a reason for Shinji to be embarrassed."

When she said that, Shinji stepped back out from behind the curtain. "What do you mean Rei? Why shouldn't I be embarrassed?"

The blue-haired girl turned her attention to the male in question. "Well, from what I could see, your 'junk' was of a rather substantial size. I see no reason why you should have any problem 'sheathing it' inside of her vagina," she said with a straight face.

Shinji's jaw dropped as Asuka once again began laughing hysterically. As the German fell off of her chair, Shinji decided his best option was to flee the recovery tent. A minute later, Asuka followed him out, still laughing. Draping an arm around the brown-haired boy, the redhead took a moment to calm down before speaking. "Wow, that couldn't have gone better if I'd planned it."

"Yes, yes, it's 'Make Fun of Shinji Day'. Anything else on the agenda for today?" Shinji asked sarcastically.

"I wanted to ask you about tomorrow," she said quietly.

Shinji stiffened slightly. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against Asuka. "Ah, so that's what you were trying to do."  
"Yup, I wanted you to have some fun before you went to meet with the bastard tomorrow. Guess I went about it the wrong way, huh?"

"Kinda, but I appreciate the thought."

"So, worried?" Asuka asked, removing her arm.

"No, it's not about seeing him. It's about visiting Mom's grave."

"I see, so are you going to bring your little friend with you?"

"Mr. Teeth? No, he's going to stay behind, I'm not going to need him anyway."

"Really? Misato told me that you brought him everywhere."

"I used to, but not anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Well, ever since I made some more friends I didn't really need him that much anymore," Shinji said with a slight grin. "Don't get me wrong, he's still one of my best friends, but now that I have Rei, you, Toji, and Kensuke I just feel a little silly always relying on him."

"Good for you," Asuka said, patting him on the back. "Well, have fun tomorrow, and don't worry, Wondergirl and I will take care of your little friend."

Shinji chuckled quietly. "Thanks Asuka, and this time, let's not let him go on another trip like last time."

Asuka gave him a playful frown. "I'm not going to live that down, am I?"

"You might," Shinji said with a smile. "You just might."

With that, the pilots were loaded up into a Nerv van and taken back to headquarters. As he looked out the window, Shinji wondered how the visit to his mother's grave would go. What would he say to his father? Most importantly, should he say anything about Mari? As these thoughts ran through his head, Shinji sighed. _Here's hoping tomorrow isn't totally miserable_, he thought to himself.

* * *

"How long has it been since you last visited here?"

These were the first words Gendo Ikari spoke to his son Shinji as they stood before Yui Ikari's grave. Shinji didn't answer. Instead, he looked out over the multitude of other graves. Thousands of graves stretched out past the horizon in every direction, making Shinji feel small. Thousands of lives lay resting here, and what was the significance of his own, or anyone else's, he wondered. Lowering his gaze back to his Mother's nameplate, Shinji spoke.

"I have never been here," he said coldly, refusing to look at his father.

Gendo remained impassive. Continuing to stare at his beloved wife's grave, he spoke again. "Why have you forsaken your mother's memory?"

Shinji turned his head so that he could glare over his shoulder at the man next to him. "I never forgot Mom," he growled. "Not a day goes by where I don't think about the accident. Even so, I never even knew this place existed until the professor contacted me and told me you wanted to meet here."

As he stared down the elder Ikari, Shinji thought about the professor and how he acted. Most of the time, Kozo Fuyutsuki was the calm and wise Sub-Commander of Nerv. At other times, times when he was speaking to Shinji, he reverted back to the caring and guiding teacher. From talking to Professor Fuyutsuki, Shinji learned more about his parents than he would have ever thought possible. Much of it surprised him, like how they had met in college or how Gendo had taken Yui's name when they got married. Other things made him smile, like the way Fuyutsuki talked about his mother. It was those comments though, that really confused Shinji sometimes. It almost seemed as though the Professor was in love with her.

The younger Ikari returned his attention to the grave before them. "It's hard to believe that she's down there. After so many years I can't even remember what she looked like. Aren't there any pictures left?"

The elder Ikari's voice retained its cold edge as he responded. "No, nothing remains. I carry everything I need in my heart. Even this grave is a but a mere marker. Nothing remains."

"So my uncle was right, you did destroy everything after she died," Shinji muttered quietly.

Gendo remained silent, there was nothing for him to say.

Brushing off the heavy feeling surrounding them and clouding his mind, Shinji decided to speak his true feelings to his father.

"It doesn't matter. Soon I'll be able to form bonds of my own with someone I care for. I'll never forget Mom, but I won't let her death rule my life."

Shinji spoke with such passion that even the stoic Nerv Commander was surprised, but it never showed on the older man's face. During his son's speech, Gendo's eyes never left Yui's grave. For a moment, just a brief moment, he experienced something he never thought he would, something utterly foreign to him.

Doubt.

In the span of that brief moment, he began to question his treatment of his son, his plan for Human Instrumentality, even his love for Yui. As quickly as that gnawingly, terrifying moment had come, it had passed. Shoving those poisonous thoughts from his head, Gendo reasoned that it was his son's own weakness that was affecting him. He believed that his son was attempting to cover his own spinelessness with false bravado. Gendo was too stubborn to realize that it was his own weakness bleeding through, and that there was nothing false about his son. Not anymore.

The two Ikari men remained silent from this point on, each consumed by their own thoughts. For Gendo, it was the glorious progression of his plan coupled with his impending reunion with his beloved Yui. For Shinji, it was the impending arrival of his beloved Mari coupled with the culmination of a promise made almost a decade prior. Father and son continued to stare at the grave of the woman they owed so much to, both reaffirming their resolve, and vowing to let no one stand in their way. Not even blood.

Not long after their silent oaths, the peaceful tranquility of the memorial ground was broken by the heavy, grating sound of rotors. The two Ikari men glanced down the row to watch as a VTOL came to ground not far from their position. Father and son faced each other once more, glaring coldly at one another. They remained frozen for a moment before Gendo once again turned his back on his son. As Nerv's Commander walked to the waiting transport, he could hear the pilot of Unit-01 calling out to him. "Commander! I really wish I could say that it was good to see you, but I won't lie in front of my mother."

Gendo paused for a second in his march, but he never turned to face the boy still standing by his wife's grave. Without any reaction to the harsh comment, Gendo carried on to the VTOL and became it's lone passenger. Shinji watched as Gendo departed, never shifting from his spot, no matter how hard the buffeting winds from the transport tried to move him. Even after the wretched mechanical beast had left the place of rest he could still her the obnoxious noise of those damnable blades. Turning one last time to face the grave of Yui Ikari, Shinji departed in the opposite direction, promising himself to return under a happier circumstance.

* * *

Maneuvering quietly down the gangway, Ryouji Kaji approached the computer terminal to access to Terminal Dogma. Dropping the keyboard into its ready position, he quickly entered the stolen codes to unlock the heavy blast doors. His fingers floated over the keys, inputing the proper code in a matter of seconds. When he reached the end of the code he paused for a moment, his finger hovering over the "Execute" key, savoring his victory.

It was at that moment that he heard the click. The obvious, familiar, and tell-tale click of a gun being cocked. The spy felt the cocky grin form on his lips as he knew just who was behind him. Raising his hands, he asked, "So Misato, what brings you down here?"

Misato flinched slightly at the address. "How did you know it was me?" she demanded.

Kaji turned to face her, flashing his best devil-may-care grin. "Simple. If it had been anyone else, I would already be dead," he told her nonchalantly.

Though he appeared relaxed, every muscle in the spy's body was tensed, ready to spring forward at any moment to defend himself. He relaxed a minute later when Misato lowered the barrel of her gun fractionally and her cold visage softened. Deciding he could chance it, he asked her a question. "So did Ikari put you up to this, or did you just decided to do some snooping of your own?"

Misato frowned harshly. "This was my initiative. The Commander doesn't know about this...yet," she said, studying the man in front of her. He looked no worse for wear, despite his most recent travels across the country. His beard was scruffy, his clothes were unkempt, but that was ordinary for the 30 year old man.

Still glaring at her "captive", Misato began questioning him. "So, it this your real job, Kaji? What is it that you really do? What are you looking for down here?"

Kaji ignored her first two questions, choosing to focus on the third and more pressing one. He returned his attention to the keyboard and sharply jabbed the "Execute" key. "Looking for this," was all he gave her for answer.

Misato's attention quickly shifted to the massive doors arrayed before them. Doors that were quietly opening. The cold visage of a consummate soldier vanished, and was replaced by unadulterated terror and horror. "What the..." was all Misato could say.

Now on display before them was a massive figure, humanoid in shape. A white giant. A very familiar white giant. "Yes," came Kaji's voice. "The first, Adam."

The giant before them stood legless, crucified like the religious savior from almost 2000 years earlier. A massive red lance was stabbed through the center of the beasts chest. Misato could only stare in mind numbing shock at what was before her. "How could they?" she asked to no one in particular. "What is the Commander thinking?"

Rounding on Kaji, the spy turned his attention to the imprisoned form hiding within the confines of Terminal Dogma. He ignored Misato's questions, not out of spite, but because he simply did not know the answers. He listened as Misato spoke again. "Who else know's about this?" she asked quietly.

"Dr. Akagi knows," was all the answer the spy offered. It wasn't much to go on, but it was enough to allow Kaji to reseal the beast and cover their tracks. Leading Misato away, he listened as she questioned herself, wondering what she could have missed or why Ritsuko wouldn't tell her. As soon as they were safely away with no one the wiser, Kaji left her to her own devices, slipping off into the shadows until he could learn more about what was happening.

* * *

When Misato walked through the front door of the apartment that evening she was immediately set upon by an irritated Asuka. The purple-haired woman sighed heavily. _After the day I've had, a pissed off teenager is the last thing I want to see_, she thought to herself. Hoping to have at least one beer before she dealt with the fiery German's tirade, Misato attempted to push past the girl. "Not now Asuka, let me drink first," she groaned.

What happened next surprised Misato. She found herself staring at an open can of BOA. Taking the can from Asuka she downed it quickly, spotting a six-pack of Yebisu in the girl's hand. Dropping the can in the recycling bucket, she pulled a can off the six-pack and popped the top. Taking a sip, Misato asked, "So, who is it this time?"

"Shinji," was Asuka's venomous response.

"What did he do?" Misato asked, rubbing her temples and taking another swig of the beer.

"The happy-go lucky idiot is practically skipping around the apartment. He's acting too nice, even Rei is avoiding him," the Second Child moaned.

Misato was stunned, she couldn't believe that even Rei felt bothered by something like that. _Granted, Shinji is normally so subdued, but Rei's taken everything else in stride_, Misato thought to herself. Draining the second and cracking the third, Misato waltzed into the living room followed closely by Asuka. Surprisingly, the room was completely empty, not even Penpen was to be found. Finishing and dropping the third can on the table, she pulled the fourth one off and handed it to Asuka. "Here, take care of this one for me," she said absently as she headed towards Shinji's room.

Smiling like the cat that caught the canary, Asuka popped the top and muttered, "Don't mind if I do." Taking a swig from the can, she flopped down onto the couch and waited for everyone to come out for dinner.

* * *

Misato made her way down the hall towards Shinji's room. As she passed Rei's door, it opened fractionally and a single red eye peered out. Misato stopped and stared at the eye as a voice called out from behind the door. "Is he gone?" it asked.

Misato smiled at Rei. "Yes, he's gone. Shinji's gone back to his room, I'm gonna try and calm him down," Misato told her young charge. The door opened fully and the blue-haired girl stepped into the hall. Casting a quick glance towards Shinji's door, Rei spoke. "I will begin preparing dinner then. I do not trust anything he might make tonight.

Misato nodded at the girl and moved on. Reaching "Shin-chan's Lovely Suite", Misato knocked and entered. When she stepped into the room the first thing she noticed was humming. Spotting the Third Child, she realized that the humming was coming from him. It was a happy, upbeat tune, contrasting sharply with his usually more somber personality. Deciding to take a shot, she sat down on the bed and said, "Shinji, let's talk."

Patting the mattress next to her, Misato waited for the boy to take a seat. Once he was settled she popped the tops on the last two cans and passed one of them to Shinji. He stared warily at the proffered can before Misato said, "Just take it. If I'm gonna have this conversation, we're both gonna be drunk for it."

Taking the can from his irresponsible guardian, the young pilot took a tentative sip from the beer can. Shuddering, he lowered the can and turned to Misato. "So, is this 'The Talk'?" he asked, adding air quotes.

Misato nodded. Shinji took another, larger, sip of the beer. "Look, you don't have to worry about any of that. I'm not going to do any of those things with Mari, right away anyway. I really just want to get to know her again. It's been ten years since we've last seen each other, ten years since she 'loaned' him to me," he said, jerking a thumb towards Mr. Teeth, who was perched atop the Third Child's desk. "The most important thing for me right now is that she and I can become friends again. Even if we do end up in a romantic relationship, I know that I'm still not ready for anything..._physical_."

Misato looked down at the boy...no, young man, next to her. Patting him heartily on the back, she took a swig from her beer. "I'm proud of you, Shinji. You're not going to take advantage of a poor defenseless girl in a strange land," she said with a smile.

Shinji drained his beer and gave Misato a friendly shove. "Misato, I would never do something like that," he replied in an embarrassed tone. Misato laughed, grabbing the boy in a playful headlock. Shinji blushed as he found himself in a very compromising position. The pair stayed like that for a few moments before they heard someone clearing their throat.

"You know Shinji, you're going to make your girlfriend very jealous if you carry on like this. Us girls don't like competition," their German roommate said mockingly.

Shinji responded by simply smiling at her, and then throwing the pillow from his bed towards the door. It was a lazy throw, but it managed to surprise all three of them. The feather-stuffed projectile arced gently through the air and smacked Asuka full in the face. The pair on the bed fell about laughing hysterically while the red-head stalked off, muttering darkly about "more beer". Shinji and Misato quickly composed themselves, though a few chuckles still managed to slip past their lips. When they had calmed down enough, Misato rose.

Quietly playing with his beer can, Shinji mustered up the courage to ask his guardian a question. "Hey Misato, has there been any word on Mari's medical file?"

Misato sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Shinji," she said. "It still hasn't arrived yet. It's weird, it should have been sent right after they announced the transfer, but something's delayed it."

Shinji frowned. "I bet I can guess what stopped it," the boy muttered under his breath.

Smiling quickly, he jumped up from the bed and twirled the empty can around his finger tips. "Oh well," he said cheerily. "It doesn't matter. I still can't wait to talk to her again."

* * *

"Where the hell did it come from?" Misato demanded.

It was a question on everyone's mind, but one that no one had the answers to. Hyuga cast a nervous glance over at Misato. "We have no idea Ma'am. It just suddenly appeared over the city."

"Damn," she swore. "Well, is it an angel?"

"No idea, we can't get a clear fix on the pattern," Maya replied.

"Ma'am, the Eva's are prepped," Aoba called out.

"Good, launch them," Misato ordered. "Instruct the pilots to maintain distance until we can get a solid read on the target. I don't want any surprises."

"Understood," the bridge techs chorused.

* * *

The three Eva's jolted to a stop when they reached the streets of Tokyo-3. Shinji gripped the control yokes tightly, almost cutting off the circulation. He waited silently for any information on the target currently hovering over the city. Opening an audio only line to the bridge, the Third Child listened intently for the slightest bit of information that could aid the Eva's against this potential threat.

As he listened to Maya and the other technicians, he noticed another voice in the background. It was hard to hear at first, but he soon realized that it was female, and a young girl speaking at that. Her voice was a little husky, but undeniably cheerful. As he strained to listen, he heard a fragment of a sentence. All he could focus on was the girl's name. It was _her _name, Mari Makinami.

Flexing his hands excitedly, Shinji drove the controls forward, ignoring the shouts and protests coming from Maya and Misato far below him. Shinji sprinted towards the angel at full speed, not caring about the panic he was causing. All he could think was, _She's here, and what better first impression then killing an angel_.

Shinji skidded to a halt and let out a quick burst from his pallet rifle. The heavy-duty rounds flew quickly towards the target. Just as they were about to hit, all hell broke lose.

* * *

Maya watched the three colossal units come to a halt on the streets of Tokyo-3. Glancing back over her shoulder, she said to Misato, "All three units are in position and holding."

"Good, keep scanning the target," Misato ordered.

As Maya turned back to her terminal, a strange voice echoed throughout the bridge. "Woooooow~! You guys sure didn't spare any expense. It's so much cooler here than my old digs."

Maya lurched back around to examine the source of the voice. She was surprised to see a young brunette girl standing at the entrance to the bridge. She was tall for her age, about Shinji's height or perhaps just a little taller. Maya also noticed that the girl was incredibly well-endowed. She felt a brief pang of jealousy, but quickly pushed it aside and continued to study the girl. Her hair was pulled into two ponytails that fell down her back. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle mischievously behind her red-framed glasses. Instantly, Maya knew who she was staring at.

Hyuga, surprised by the girl's sudden arrival, stood up and shouted, "Hey, this is a restricted area. How did you get in here?"

The girl bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. Smiling brightly at Hyuga, she grabbed the hem of her skirt and twirled around. Her skirt rose up slightly, just enough to cause Hyuga and Aoba to blush. "Well, you want to know how I got in here, right? Well it's easy, I just used this cool ID card they gave me," she told them in an upbeat and perky tone.

"Yeah, they gave this awesome card and told me to come here," she continued. "I'm super glad they said to come here. It would have been sooo~ boring to go to a stupid shelter."

"That's all well and good, I suppose," Hyuga growled. "But that still doesn't explain who you are."

The perky girl started bouncing again. "Oh, that's another easy one. I'm the super amazing pilot of Eva Unit-03, Mari Illustrious Makinami!" she shouted, flashing a peace sign at the bewildered technicians.

_Well, that confirms it then_, Maya thought to herself. She was about to introduce herself to the girl when something strange appeared on her terminal. Quickly scanning it, her eyes widened and she let loose a roar of frustration. "Shit! Shinji's moving rapidly towards the target," she yelled back to Misato.

"What the hell does he think he's doing? He was told to stand by for further orders," Misato bellowed.

"I have no idea, he won't respond to my hails," Maya replied.

"Wow~, he's really gung-ho, isn't he?" Mari commented.

"Not usually," Misato muttered darkly. The purple-haired woman was about to order and intercept, but it was too late. Shinji had opened fire on the strange object hovering above Tokyo-3. The technicians watched as the blasts from the pallet rifle flew towards the target. Right as the projectiles should have struck the target, it vanished.

The warning klaxons sounded as Aoba shouted," Pattern Blue confirmed! It's an angel."

Misato stared at the cityscape and noticed something strange. "All the buildings that were beneath the object are sinking," she said quietly.

"My god," Maya said, realizing the danger. "That thing's shadow is the real angel."

Frantically re-opening the comm line, which had been closed in the confusion, Maya tried to call Shinji back. It was too late however, Unit-01 and it's pilot were nowhere to be found.

* * *

Misato was pissed. Not only at Shinji for rushing in blindly, but at herself for blindly rushing into his rescue. In her haste to save the boy, all they had managed was to break the umbilical cable and almost lose Unit's 02 and 00 in the process. Now Shinji was not only stranded, but also stuck on life support. Granted he still had 14 hours until life support failed completely, but it was bad enough without the Makinami girl repeatedly asking if "the pilot will die?" or "can I have his Eva?". Leaving the girl with Hyuga and Aoba, Misato headed topside with Maya and Ritsuko.

"So let me see if I got this right. The shadow of that thing in the sky is really the angel, and that thing in the sky is the shadow," Misato said, completely confused.

"In simple terms, yes," Ritsuko replied. "The body of the angel is incredibly thin, and it acts as a Dirac Sea, which is–"

"Look, I'm sure it's interesting, but all I need to know is how to kill it without destroying Unit-01," Misato cut her off. "So what have you got?"

"Nothing," Maya said sadly. "Dr. Akagi's plan poses a substantial threat to Unit-01, not to mention Shinji, but it's all we have."

Maya explained Ritsuko's plan to Misato. "Before you say anything, I know dropping every N2 mine the JSSDF has will kill Shinji, and probably destroy or cripple Unit-01 in the process. That's why I think we should wait. The angel isn't making any hostile moves, or moves at all, right now, so it shouldn't be a problem if we don't agitate it. If it moves, launch. But if it doesn't, at least wait until the life support expires and we're sure that he can't survive," Maya pleaded.

Misato stared at the younger woman, admiring her initiative. Taking a deep breath, Misato nodded once. "Alright, we'll wait."

Ritsuko was shocked. "Misato! What are you thinking? We can't risk losing Unit-01 just because the pilot might be alive," she shouted.

Misato was furious. She angrily rounded on the doctor. "Know your place Dr. Akagi! The Eva's may be your responsibility, but the pilots are mine. I am in command of this operation, and that is not subject to change. As long as there is a chance of recovering the pilot alive, we must take it. Now, your plan will be our primary, but you and first Lt. Ibuki will put your heads together and try to find a way to free Pilot Ikari and Unit-01 without dropping every N2 mine we have. Am I understood?"

Ritsuko clenched her teeth. "Yes, Major Katsuragi, you are," the blonde doctor growled. Wit that, the two women turned their backs to each other, neither wanting to look at the other.

* * *

Shinji found himself sitting on one of the city's trains at dusk. Taking a moment to scan his surroundings, he was surprised to see an image of his 4-year old self sitting across from him. He was about to try questioning his younger self when a familiar voice seemed to sound all around the train car.

** _Why do you pilot? Why do you fight? Is it for that man? Or for yourself?_**

Shinji stifled a laugh.

** _Do you fight for recognition? For pride?_**

Shinji fought harder to hide his laughter

_**Does it have something to do with this one?**_

Images of Misato flashed through his mind. Misato picking him up for the first time. Holding on to his SDAT and Mr. Teeth when he stepped into Unit-01 for the first time. Showing him Mari's personnel file. Taking him shopping for more clothes. Giving him his first beer and "The Talk".

This time, Shinji didn't hide his chuckle.

_**Perhaps something to do with this one?**_

This time the images were of Rei. Their first meeting in front of Unit-01. Their conversation before facing the fifth angel. Rei smiling at him for the first time after he wrenched her broken Entry Plug open. Him defending her against Asuka. Her commenting on the size of his "junk".

This time, Shinji just smiled.

_**Maybe it's this one?**_

As images of Asuka stared flashing through his head, Shinji burst out laughing.

"Alright," he choked out between fits of laughter. "I'm going to stop you right there. This whole sub-conscious act isn't going to fly. If you really were my sub-conscious you'd already know the answer to all of your questions."

_**Very well, then what is the answer?**_

"It's simple. Everything is for Mari. Everything I do is for her and the chance of seeing her again."

** _Why? What is so special about that one?_**

"Love. That's what's so special."

With that, the illusion broke and Shinji found himself floating in darkness. The voice came back after a moment, resonating inside his mind.

**_Then I will you show you what could have been._**

"No," Shinji said sharply. "I don't care about 'what could have been'. All I care about is what will be. Let me show you what will be."

Shinji focused hard on the dream he had. The vision swam before him in the dark. He saw two brunettes, a man and a woman, standing on a grassy hill. The vision expanded to show two children playing with a penguin about the same size as them. The hill remained in focus for another minute before fading completely.

Smiling to himself, Shinji spoke again. "See, I know now that it's not just a dream, but proof of what's to come."

The was no response from the voice, only a strange rumbling, shaking him back into consciousness.

* * *

About an hour remained before the life support gave out and Shinji was lost forever. Maya was working frantically on a way to rescue him, while Dr. Akagi was...

Maya had always admired the blonde doctor. She even had a bit of a crush on her. But after seeing her completely disregard Shinji's life and not even try to find a way to help him, she couldn't understand what she ever saw in her. Maya kept working on a way to save the kind boy's life, when she noticed a strange reading coming from the target. Turning to Ritsuko, she asked, "Dr. Akagi, are you seeing this?"

The bored doctor looked up from her cup of coffee and scanned the terminal screen in front of her. "There's some sort of strange reaction coming from the target,'s shadow" she mumbled. Turning towards her younger counterpart she asked, "Do you think it's preparing to attack?"

Before the brunette could answer, a strange ripping sound echoed through the air. Immediately following, Asuka's voice sounded over the intercom. "Hey nerds, you're gonna want to see this."

Ignoring the German's insult, the two scientists raced outside in time to see Unit-01 push it's head and torso out of the strange floating body. The purple behemoth, now stained red with the angel's blood, let loose a deafening roar. Maya looked on in horror, muttering quietly to herself. "Dear god, what have we created?"

Ritsuko watched in stony silence. _How did he free himself? It should have been impossible. This makes me realize how little we truly know about the Eva's, but I do understand how Oppenheimer felt. This..._thing_, is an engine of destruction. Just what are you planning, Ikari?_

Turning away from the gruesome sight, Ritsuko spoke authoritatively, "You'd better contact Major Katsuragi to recover the Third Child. We wouldn't want his life support to run out."

With that, the head of Project-E stalked off. Maya watched her go, wondering just what was wrong with that woman.

* * *

Mari had watched the thrilling climax to what was probably the most boring battle ever from the safety of the bridge. Though she had to admit it was kind of fun to see the purple Evea get sucked into the ground, the 13 hours that followed were some of the worst hours of her life. She found herself alone with the two male technicians from earlier. The two men were doing their best to ignore the hyperactive Fourth Child. The pair was so successful in their dismissiveness that Mari found herself forced to take a nap, despite the chance that she might miss the action.

Thankfully, she had woken up just in time to see the Eva force it's way free. Listening happily to the fierce roar, only one thought was on Mari's mind. _I wonder who that pilot is?_

* * *

AN2: Oh my god, I'm a horrible person. I have no excuse why this chapter took so long, I just didn't write it as quickly as I could of. That being said, I'm glad I finally got it done.

Now, I know I said in my Author's Note last chapter that this would be Mari's return, and while I didn't lie, this isn't the reunion you were expecting. That's next chapter people (which I will do my best to get out sooner, but I make no promises).

Also, in case any of you are wondering, the reference to Oppenheimer is about a quote of his after the development of the Atomic Bomb. "I am become Death, destroyer of worlds", I figured this fit well with the actions of Unit-01.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now, so please please please review...or flame, whatever you want. Just please do something. Your reviews are what keeps me going.


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